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Common name: Achatocarpus Family.
Number of genera 2. Number of species 6.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium; simple; berry; berry indehiscent; berry without central placental mass; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded; 1-seeded; 2-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; indehiscent. Epicarp white (translucent); durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp absent. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without apparent food reserves (absent from mature seed); with perisperm (absent from mature seed); without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface wrinkled; with crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle, or without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; with notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approaching each other, or without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo.
Perisperm copious; mealy; opaque. Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 2.5 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; peripheral; foliate; arcuate, or annular; 90% annular; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.5–0.6 times length of embryo; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; smooth; with margins separate; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; curved; not thickened.
Distribution
New World. North America, Middle America, South America (to Argentina).
Notes
Rather closely related to Phytolaccaceae, and according to some authors both genera are in Phytolaccaceae.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Achatocarpus Triana -- Phaulothamnus A. Gray
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 250.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
No fruit illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 065: Achatocarpus pubescens C.H. Wright (A-B), Phaulothamnus spinescens A. Gray (C-D).
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Achatocarpus nigricans Triana: fruits with calyx. • Fruit. 2 of 5. Achatocarpus pubescens C.H. Wright: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 3 of 5. Achatocarpus pubescens C.H. Wright: seed & fruit. • Embryo. 4 of 5. Achatocarpus pubescens C.H. Wright: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Phaulothamnus spinescens A. Gray: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or 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 or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
