| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Synonyms: Ilicaceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Common name: Holly Family.
Number of genera 2. Number of species 401 (with species of Phelline & Sphenostemon removed).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an incomplete fruit with epicarp and mesocarp absent and endocarp exposed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; drupe; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s), or within accessory organ(s); within calyx; accrescent; persistent; more than 1 but less than 10-seeded to 25 to less than 50-seeded (estimated); (2–)4–6(–8)-carpellate (1-(2) seeds per locule); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; indehiscent. Epicarp red, or black; durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; bony; splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; not smooth, or smooth; with pits, or rugose, or wrinkles; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; with grooves, or without grooves (some spp. deeply grooved); 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; 1 to less than 5 mm long to 5 to less than 10 mm long; 4–7 mm long; 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; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface longitudinally ridged; 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 development cellular; copious; fleshy-firm; smooth; without starch; with oils and proteins; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve, or undifferentiated from food reserve (barely differentiated); 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, or basal; linear, or miniature (Martin classied as rudimentary); straight; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons, or acotyledonous. Cotyledons 2; tiny; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; flat; smooth; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle vestigial; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan (irregularly). New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania (most numerous in South America and Asia).
Notes
Phelline and Sphenostemon have been moved to their own families: Phellinaceae with 12 spp. & Sphenostemonaceae with 7 spp.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Ilex vomitoria Sol. ex Aiton -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Ilex aquifolium L.t -- Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil. -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Ilex L. -- Nemopanthus Raf., nom. cons.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 718 (also see segregated Phellinaceae & Sphenostemonaceae). Galle, F.C. 1997. Hollies: The genus Ilex. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.
General references
Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, 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, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Schopmeyer, C.S. 1974. Seeds of Woody plants in the United States. Agric. Handb. 450:1–883, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182, Wood, C.E., Jr. 1974. A student's atlas of flowering plants: Some dicotyledons of eastern North America, 120 pp. Harper and Row, New York.
Illustrations
Acceptable endocarp illustrations & embryos. No seed Illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit incomplete, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Schopmeyer, Wood, Jr., Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Schopmeyer, Martin, Wood, Jr., Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 233: Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil. (A-B), Nemopanthus mucronata (L.) Druce (C-D), Ilex (Bryonia) sandwicensis Loes. (E&F), [and G&H are in Sphenostemaceae].
• Fruit. 1 of 4. Ilex anomala Hook. & Arnott: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 4. Ilex anomala Hook. & Arnott: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 4. Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 4. Ilex mucronata (L.) M. Powell et al.: 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’.
