The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Geraniaceae
Habit and leaf form. Shrubs (with long- and short-shoots). Plants non-succulent. Leptocaul. Leaves deciduous; alternate (and clustered on the short-shoots); petiolate; non-sheathing; simple. Lamina entire; lanceolate, or oblong; pinnately veined. Leaves stipulate. Stipules intrapetiolar; free of one another; spiny (subulate); persistent. Lamina margins serrate; flat.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; anomocytic, or cyclocytic.
Stem anatomy. Vessels without vestured pits.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary; axillary (axillary); bracteolate (the four bracteoles constituting an epicalyx); regular; 8 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium present.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 16; seemingly 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 8; seemingly 1 whorled; polysepalous (the sepals subulate); regular; valvate. Epicalyx present (of four bracteoles). Corolla 8; seemingly 1 whorled; polypetalous; contorted; regular.
Androecium 8. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal; free of one another; seemingly 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 8; isomerous with the perianth; alternisepalous; opposite the corolla members. Anthers large, oblong-ellipsoidal, dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; bilocular. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; colporate.
Gynoecium 8 carpelled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 8 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 8 locular (and laterally deeply 8-lobed); sessile. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; apical; about as long as the ovary. Stigmas 8; linear. Placentation basal to axile. Ovules 1 per locule; ascending (from the inner angle); anatropous; bitegmic (?); crassinucellate (?).
Fruit non-fleshy; more or less a schizocarp (without a persistent central column). Mericarps 8; comprising follicles (ventrally dehiscent, woolly inside). Seeds scantily endospermic to non-endospermic; compressed. Testa smooth (shiny).
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Socotra.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Rutiflorae; Geraniales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Geraniales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; Eurosid I; Rosales. Species 1. Genera 1; only genus, Dirachma.
Trans. Roy. Soc Edinb. 31, 45, t. 8 (1888) (not yet consulted).
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’.