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Synonyms: Balsameaceae Dumort.
Common name: Frankincense Family.
Number of genera 16. Number of species 540.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; drupe (Canarium), or nuculanium (Nuculanium of Spjut: "exocarp thin, mesocarp fleshy, exocarp & mesocarp splitting in ripe fruit into longitudinally valves, endocarp forming crustaceous or bony putamen, usu. clasped by a pseudoaril": Drupe of Spjut: pericarp fleshy, endocarp crustaceous. Spjut did not cover genus Beiselia which creates a fruit problem in this family. Herewith is the fruit description of Beiselia: thin pericarp splitting usually from base into 10(-12) narrow recurved strips and thus exposing large broad columella which fills fruit with 10(-12) radiating thin vertical walls; pyrenes resembling flattened winged seeds, solitary and lying radially in each sinus of columella, pendulous with membranous apical wing); with persistent central column; solid central column shaft; valves diverging from top of central column (resembling umbrella ribs); not within accessory organ(s); more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–5-seeded; 1–5-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; apex not beaked; wall leathery to woody; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit endocarp(s). Dehiscent regularly; passively; at base; without replum. Epicarp red; durable; thin; without armature; without wing(s), or with wing(s); 2-winged, or 1-winged (Beiselia); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present; separating spontaneously from exocarp; woody, or bony, or thin, or crustaceous; splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; stone unilocular, or plurilocular; stone 1–5-loculate; smooth, or not smooth; with white arilloid mesocarp tissue; without wing, or with wing (Beiselia with 1 terminal wing); without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without grooves; 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, or perisperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate, or wrinkled; 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 nuclear; scant, or trace; with oils; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Perisperm opaque. Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons, or investing cotyledons (sometimes invested); bent, or straight (rarely); without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; with cotyledons containing oils; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.7–0.9 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 12–15 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle, or partially concealing hypocotyl-radicle; accumbent to hypocotyl-radicle; thin, or thick; once-folded, or convoluted, or flat (rarely flat); smooth; with apices entire, or cleft (Beiselia), or lobed (Beiselia), or palmately lobed; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; not thickened.
Distribution
Pantropical (especially well represented in tropical America and Northeastern Africa). New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Goldberg: Fruit drupe, berry, occ. tardily dehiscent capsule. Mabberley: Protieae: drupe with 2–5 free or adhering but not fused parts; Bursereae: drupe with endocarps completely fused; Canarieae: drupe with 1–5, 1-seeded stones or 1 stone with all seeds; rarely capsule.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Aucoumea klaineana Pierre -- Bursera fagaroides (Kunth) Engl. -- Bursera glabrifolia (Kunth) Engl. -- Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg. -- Canarium euphyllum Kurz -- Commiphora erythraea (Ehrenb.) Engl. -- 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
Aucoumea Pierre -- Beiselia Forman -- Boswellia Roxb. ex Colebr. -- Bursera Jacq. ex L., nom. cons. -- Canarium L. -- Commiphora Jacq., nom. cons. -- Crepidospermum Hook. f. -- Dacryodes Vahl -- Garuga Roxb. -- Haplolobus H. J. Lam -- Protium Burm. f., nom. cons. -- Pseudodacryodes Pierlot -- Rosselia Forman et al. -- Santiria Blume -- Scutinanthe Thwaites -- Tapirocarpus Sagot -- Tetragastris Gaertn. -- Trattinnickia Willd. -- Triomma Hook. f.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 803. Forman, L.L., P.E. Brandham, M.M. Harley, & T.J. Lawrence. 1989. Beiselia mexicana (Burseraceae) and its affinities. Kew Bull. 44:1–31.
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, Engler, A. 1900–1953. Das Pflanzenreich, nos. 1–107. Facsimile edition. Engelmann-Cramer, Weinheim, Engler, A. and K. Prantl. 1924 and onward. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilimien. W. Engelman, Leipzig, 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, Hooker, J.D. 1873 and forward. Icones Plantarum. William & Norgate, London. (plate number cited in text within [ ]), 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
Karen has seed dissections and SEMs. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or fruit incomplete, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Hooker [3112], Gaertner, Engler & Prantl, Forman et al. (1989). Fruit illustration(s): Karen, Forman et al. (1989). Embryo illustration(s): Karen, Forman et al. (1989). Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 256: Unlabelled taxa in 2 plates (A-R & A-H) [no rough].
• Fruit. 1 of 15. Brunonia australis Sm.: fruiting head. • Seed. 2 of 15. Bursera galeottiana Engl.: seeds in fruits. • Fruit. 3 of 15. Canarium paniculatum (Lam.) Benth. ex Engl.: fruit. • Fruit. 4 of 15. Canarium paniculatum (Lam.) Benth. ex Engl.: fruit with exocarp removed. • Seed. 5 of 15. Canarium paniculatum (Lam.) Benth. ex Engl.: seed. • Fruit. 6 of 15. Protium gigantium Engl.: fruit. • Seed. 7 of 15. Protium gigantium Engl.: seed. • Embryo. 8 of 15. Boswellia socotrana Balf. f.: embryo. • Embryo. 9 of 15. Bursera fagaroides (Kunth) Engl.: embryo. • Embryo. 10 of 15. Crepidospermum goudotianum (Tul.) Triana & Planch.: embryo. • Embryo. 11 of 15. Dacryodes costata (A.W. Benn.) H.J. Lam: embryo. • Embryo. 12 of 15. Garuga pinnata Roxb.: embryo. • Embryo. 13 of 15. Haplolobus floribundus (K. Schum.) H.J. Lam: embryo. • Embryo. 14 of 15. Santiria tomentosa Blume: embryo. • Embryo. 15 of 15. Scutinanthe brunnea Thwaites: 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’.
