The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Flacourtiaceae
Including Monandrodendraceae Barkley
Habit and leaf form. Small trees, or shrubs. Plants non-succulent. Leaves alternate; distichous; simple. Lamina dissected (toothed), or entire. Leaves stipulate. Stipules caducous (small).
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; mainly confined to one surface (abaxial); anomocytic.
Lamina dorsiventral. The mesophyll containing calcium oxalate crystals. The mesophyll crystals druses.
Stem anatomy. Cork cambium present; initially superficial. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Xylem with libriform fibres (septate). Vessel end-walls scalariform. Wood parenchyma apotracheal (diffuse).
Reproductive type, pollination. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite (mostly).
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in racemes, or in spikes, or in catkins. Inflorescences axillary; catkinlike — small, dense, cylindrical, fascicled axillary spikes or racemes. Flowers bracteate (the bracts small and inconspicuous (Lozania) or conspicuous and imbricate (Lacistema)); bi- bracteolate; very small, or minute. Floral receptacle markedly hollowed (expanded into a fleshy, concave disk).
Perianth sepaline, or absent; 0, or 4–6. Calyx when present, 4–6; polysepalous; members unequal.
Androecium 1. Androecial members free of the perianth. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 1. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; bilocular (the locules separate, sometimes stipitate). Pollen shed as single grains. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; colporate.
Gynoecium 2–3 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 1 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1. Stigmas 2–3 (distinct). Placentation parietal. Ovules in the single cavity 2–6 (with 1–2 ovules on each placenta); pendulous; anatropous; bitegmic; crassinucellate. Endosperm formation nuclear.
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules three valvular. Fruit 1 seeded. Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2; flat (broad, foliar). Embryo straight.
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Sub-tropical to tropical. Tropical America, West Indies.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Violiflorae; Violales (cf. Flacourtiaceae). Cronquist’s Subclass Dilleniidae; Violales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; fabid; Order Malpighiales.
Species 27. Genera 2; Lacistema, Lozania.
Illustrations. • Technical details: Lacistema (Lindley).
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’.
