The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Polygalaceae
Habit and leaf form. Herbs (prostrate ‘subshrub’). Perennial; with neither basal nor terminal aggregations of leaves. Mesophytic, or xerophytic. Leaves opposite (to subopposite); with cartilaginous margins; petiolate; simple; epulvinate. Lamina entire; subrhomboid. Leaves minutely stipulate; without a persistent basal meristem.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary; axillary; very irregular. The floral irregularity involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers cyclic; pentacyclic. Floral receptacle developing an androphore (inserted in a slit in the calyx). Free hypanthium absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 7; 2 whorled; anisomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; gamosepalous; unequal but not bilabiate (‘posticously dimidiate’). Corolla 2 (anticous); 1 whorled; gamopetalous (the petals laterally connate into a slipper-like structure, hooded at the apex, externally sericeous); unequal but not bilabiate.
Androecium 8, or 9. Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another. Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 4–5 (posticous). Stamens 4 (anticous); diplostemonous; both alternating with and opposite the corolla members.
Gynoecium 1 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium monomerous; of one carpel; superior (apically two-winged).
Fruit non-fleshy. The fruiting carpel indehiscent; pendulous within the calyx from the apex of the gynophore, with the thin pericarp adherent to the seed. Seeds scantily endospermic. Embryo well differentiated. Embryo bent (conduplicate).
Physiology, biochemistry. Iridoids not detected (S.R. Jensen, unpublished).
Geography, cytology. Western Australia.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Violiflorae (re-assigned from Rutiflorae); Violales (?). Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Polygalales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; malvid; Order Brassicales.
Species 1. Genera 1; only genus, Emblingia.
This description is offered for casual browsing only. We strongly advise against extracting comparative information from it. This is much more easily achieved using the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, geographical distribution, genera included in each family, classifications (Dahlgren; Dahlgren, Clifford, and Yeo; Cronquist; APG), and notes on the APG classification.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 25th November 2009. http://delta-intkey.com’.