| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Synonyms: Pachysandraceae J. Agardh; Stylocerataceae Takht. ex Reveal & Hoogland
Common name: Boxwood Family.
Number of genera 5. Number of species 60.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or an incomplete fruit with epicarp and mesocarp absent and endocarp exposed, or a seed, or an embryo.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule, or drupe (Sarococca); loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; with styles(s); not within accessory organ(s); 10 to less than 25-seeded; 5–16-seeded; (1–)2–3(–4)-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; actively; elastically, or explosively; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present, or absent. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin, or hard; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; without 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 present (Buxus), or absent (Sarcococea); an arillike structure. Arillike structure falling with seed a caruncle (horny, white, lobed, waxy). Seed larger than minute; 1 to less than 5 mm long to 5 to less than 10 mm long; 5–6 mm long; straight (commonly), or oblong; 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; shiny (brilliant); surface smooth; 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; black, or brown (all shades); crustaceous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development cellular; copious; fleshy, or fleshy-soft; smooth; with oils; 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 (Pachysandra); 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.2–0.9 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; bent, or straight; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; tiny, or well developed; 0.1–0.8 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed (Sarocca), or well developed (Buxus); straight, or curved; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Buxus sempervirens L. -- 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
Buxus L. -- Notobuxus Oliv. -- Pachysandra Michx. -- Sarcococca Lindl. -- Styloceras Kunth ex A. Juss. --
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 732.
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. 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, LeMaout, E. and J. Decaisne. 1876. A general system of botany, 1,065 p. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 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, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne. Seed illustration(s): Engler & Prantl, LeMaout & Decaisne, Corner. Embryo illustration(s): Martin, Engler & Prantl, LeMaout & Decaisne, Corner.
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Buxus sempervirens L.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Buxus sempervirens L.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Buxus sempervirens L.: 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’.
