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Common name: Australian Pitcher-plant Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 1 (Cephalotus follicularis Labill.).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) simple; 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium, or anthocarp; multiple; follicetum; without persistent central column; within accessory organ(s); within hypanthium; accrescent; evanescent (not falling with follicles, therefore this may not be the best answer); with hypanthium follicles (= follicetum); 1-seeded, or more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1(–2)-seeded; 2 cm long; 6-carpellate (& topped by more or less circinately recurved style); with carpels separate; with carpels separating only at apex at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; apex not beaked; wall hard; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; passively (assumed); at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; not glabrous (with hairs); hairs not glandular; without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; 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 absent. Seed minute; straight; 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; loose; 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; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo. Raphe conspicuous; texture as testa (lateral & slender); included in dehisced fruit. Endosperm copious; fleshy; smooth; without starch; 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; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.5 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons; straight; parallel to seed length; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; tiny; 0.6–0.8 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Southeastern Asia.
Notes
Our characters use "follicle" in 2 places, when in this case the correct word should be "follicetum". Spjut's "follicetum" (and under family discussion) noted that "follicles falling free from the hypanthium, opening only at the apex". Therefore, the we score fruit as both a follicle and a follicetum. Cronquist: "folliclar, hairy, collectively surrounded at the base by the accrescent hypanthium"; or achenes detaching circularly near their bases, which is composed of a simple membrane; thicky hairy externally.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Cephalotus Labill., nom. cons.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 569.
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. and C.A. Ritchie. 1988. Identification of disseminules listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1719:1–313, 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, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): seed, or embryo. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen, LeMaout & Decaisne. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 172: Cephalotus follicularis Labill. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Cephalotus follicularis Labill.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Cephalotus follicularis Labill.: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Cephalotus follicularis Labill.: 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’.
