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Common name: Amborella Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 1 (Amborella trichopoda Baill.).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium; multiple, or simple; drupe; drupetum (Spjut based on Goldberg: "fruitlets compressed druplets"); without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded; less than 1 cm long; 0.8–1 cm long; 5–6-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 red; durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; hard; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; not smooth; with rugose (prominently); without operculum; without secretory cavities; without longitudinal ridges. 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; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; 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 food reserve. Endosperm copious; fleshy; smooth; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed, or rudimentary; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; acotyledonous, or with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2 (if present); scarcely differentiated; smooth; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle vestigial; straight; not thickened. Plumule undeveloped.
Distribution
Old World. Asia Minor (New Caledonia).
Notes
Spjut's drupetum for this multiple fruit is rejected based on published drawings that clearly illustrate separate drupes. The fruits are compressed as described by Spjut quoting Goldberg: "Fruitlets compressed druplets". Cronquist: "Fruit of separate drupelike carpels, these oblique, with ventro-apical stigmas". Spjut's and Goldberg's "compressed" may mean each individual druplet is compressed, viz., flattened - and not meaning that the druplets are compressed togther as infer by Spjut"s fruit classification = a drupetum. For addition evidence see Jeremie (1982, fig. 33), who illustrated an individual "druplet" (a diminutive of a single drupe). Carpels compressed, closely foveolate rugose.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Amborella Baill.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 64. Jérémie, J. 1982. Amborellaceae. In: A. Aubréville & J.-F. Leroy, eds., Flore de la Nouvelle Caldédonie et dépendances, vol. 11, pp. 157–160. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
General references
Aubréville, A. and J.-F. Leroy. 1982. Flore de la Nouvelle Calédonie et Dépendances. National d'Historie Naturelle, Paris, 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
Acceptable fruit illustrations, but no seed illustration. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit incomplete, or seed. Fruit illustration(s): Karen, Aubre'ville (1982). Seed illustration(s): Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 011: Amborella trichopoda Baill. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 2. Amborella trichopoda Baill.: fruit. • Embryo. 2 of 3. Amborella trichopoda Baill.: embryo. 2 of 2.
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’.
