The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Celastraceae
Habit and leaf form. Small trees, or lianas. Self supporting, or climbing; the lianes tendril climbers (some of the inflorescences modified into coiled, watchspring tendrils). Leaves alternate; not gland-dotted; without marked odour; simple. Lamina entire. Leaves stipulate. Lamina margins crenate, or serrate.
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring (?).
Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers functionally male and functionally female. Plants monoecious. Female flowers with staminodes (five, oppositipetalous, concrescent into a five-lobed disk). Floral nectaries present. Nectar secretion from the androecium.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in panicles and in glomerules. Inflorescences axillary; consisting of loose panicles of glomerules. Flowers small; regular; 5 merous; cyclic. Free hypanthium absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (the corolla much smaller); 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; very shortly gamosepalous; persistent; valvate. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous (the petals not contiguous).
Androecium of male flowers 10. Androecial members free of the perianth (the stamens), or adnate (the staminodes); free of one another. Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 5 (spreading, oppositipetalous, adnate to the subtending petals). Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous (alternating with the staminodes); filantherous (the filaments filiform). Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 3–4 aperturate; colporate.
Gynoecium in female flowers, 4–5 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth to isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 4–5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 4–5 locular (ovoid-oblong, shallowly ribbed, pubescent). Gynoecium non-stylate. Stigmas 4–5 (sessile, subulate). Placentation axile to apical. Ovules 2 per locule; pendulous; arillate (‘each surmounted by an obturator-like appendage’: Airy Shaw); anatropous.
Fruit non-fleshy; indehiscent; a samara (with five broad, stramineous wings); 1 seeded (and one-locular). Seeds endospermic.
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Malaysia.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Santaliflorae; Celastrales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Celastrales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; fabid; Order Malpighiales.
Species 2. Genera 1; only genus, Lophopyxis.
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’.