The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Ochnaceae
Habit and leaf form. Trees. Leaves large; alternate; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple. Lamina entire; obovate (-spathulate); pinnately veined; cross-venulate; attenuate at the base. Leaves stipulate. Stipules intrapetiolar; concrescent (the two together forming a short, subentire to bifid scale). Lamina margins remotely dentate.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; anomocytic.
Adaxial hypodermis present (mucilaginous). The mesophyll containing mucilage cells (in addition to the hypodermis).
Stem anatomy. Secretory cavities present (in the cortex and pith); with mucilage. Cortical bundles present (? — implied by Metcalfe and Chalk). Internal phloem absent. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Xylem with tracheids. Vessel end-walls scalariform, or scalariform and simple (?).
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary; axillary (short-pedicellate); regular; partially acyclic. The perianth acyclic (the calyx spirally arranged). Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; extrastaminal; annular (thick, sinuous, 10-lobed).
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 13–15; consisting of spiralled calyx and whorled corolla. Calyx 8–10; spiralled; polysepalous (the leathery sepals increasing in size acropetally); persistent (below the fruit); closely imbricate. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous; imbricate; rather fleshy. Petals sessile.
Androecium 10. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal; free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 10; diplostemonous; both alternating with and opposite the corolla members; filantherous (the filaments stout, subulate). Anthers dorsifixed (oblong, subsagittate); versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits (?); introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 3(–4) aperturate; colporate.
Gynoecium 5 carpelled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary 5 locular (ten ribbed); sessile. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; apical (subulate); about as long as the ovary to much longer than the ovary. Stigmas 1; small, capitate. Placentation axile. Ovules 2 per locule; pendulous; superposed.
Fruit fleshy to non-fleshy; globose, indehiscent; capsular-indehiscent, or a berry (‘baccate’, corky-woody when dry, 5–6 cm across). Seeds endospermic (the endosperm fleshy); trigonous, with a broad, winglike, opaque hilum. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2 (subelliptic). Embryo axile.
Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found.
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. New Caledonia.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli, or Tenuinucelli (?). Dahlgren’s Superorder Theiflorae (?); Theales (?). Cronquist’s Subclass Dilleniidae; Theales. APG (1998) family of uncertain position at the highest group level. Species 1. Genera 1; only genus, Strasburgeria.
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’.