The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Geraniaceae
Habit and leaf form. Small shrubs (or shrublets). Leaves usually opposite; simple, or compound. Lamina when simple dissected, or entire. Leaves exstipulate (but the opposing leaf bases connected by a transverse line).
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Wood parenchyma paratracheal.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; when aggregated, in corymbs. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences few-flowered corymbs. Flowers regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (Rhyncotheca being excluded); 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; polysepalous; regular; imbricate. Epicalyx of bracteoles present. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous; imbricate, or contorted. Petals entire.
Androecium 10. Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another; 2 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 10; diplostemonous; alternisepalous; both alternating with and opposite the corolla members. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; extrorse, or introrse. Pollen grains nonaperturate.
Gynoecium 3 carpelled, or 5 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth, or isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 3 celled, or 5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 3 locular, or 5 locular. Gynoecium shortly stylate, or non-stylate. Stigmas 3, or 5. Placentation axile, or apical. Ovules 2 per locule, or 5–50 per locule (‘many’); pendulous; epitropous; with ventral raphe; collateral (when two), or biseriate (when ‘many’); anatropous, or campylotropous (?).
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule (sometimes beaked). Capsules valvular (‘septifragal’), or loculicidal. Seeds thinly endospermic (the endosperm fleshy).
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Andes.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Rutiflorae; Geraniales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Geraniales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; unassigned to Eurosid I or Eurosid II; Geraniales. Species 11. Genera 2; Balbisia (Ledocarpon), Wendtia.
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: 10th April 2008. http://delta-intkey.com’.