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Common name: Connarus Family.
Number of genera 12. Number of species 380.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) simple, or compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; camara (Hermandradenia), or coccum (Connarus Spjut only 3 families: Connaraceae, Myristicaceae, Proteaceae), or follicle; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded, or more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1(–2)-seeded; 1–5(–8)-carpellate (rarely 3 or 7); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; apex not beaked; wall crustaceous; dehiscent, or indehiscent (usually indehiscent for Jollydora & Hermandradenia). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; passively; linearly; by ventral sutures (& occasionally along dorsal suture), or circumscissile slit (at base); and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp orange, or red; durable; sub- glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs); hairs not glandular; without armature; not smooth; glandular (dotted), or tuberculate; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Endocarp present; separating spontaneously from exocarp, or 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 longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril mostly present, or absent; a true aril; red, or yellow; well developed; adnate to testa; fleshy; of funicular origin; basal; does not aid in seed explusion from fruit; fleshy; cupshaped, or cushionlike; unlobed. Seed larger than minute; 25 to less than 50 mm long; up to 40 mm long; sub ovate, or elliptic; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without apparent food reserves (thinner endosperms with thicker cotyledons); with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent, or present (Vismianthus, Hermandradenia); fleshy (Hemandradenia). Testa present; with fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer, or without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; shiny; 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, or bichrome; black, or red, or yellow; fleshy, or thick; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo. Endosperm copious to scant; hard, or fleshy; smooth; with oils (occasionally); 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; completely filling testa (no food reserve), or partially filling testa (with food reserve), or nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve); 0.4–0.9 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons, or investing cotyledons (occasionally); 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; well developed; not divaricate; 0.7–9 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2–7.5 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle, or partially concealing hypocotyl-radicle; foliaceous; flat (or plano-convex); smooth, or ruminate; with apices entire; with margins adhering; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Pantropical and pansubtropical. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Study Breteler (1989).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Agelaea Sol. ex Planch. -- Burttia Baker f. & Exell -- Cnestidium Planch. -- Cnestis Juss. -- Connarus L. -- Ellipanthus Hook. f. -- Hemandradenia Stapf -- Jollydora Pierre ex Gilg -- Manotes Sol. ex Planch. -- Pseudoconnarus Radlk. -- Rourea Aubl., nom. cons. -- Vismianthus Mildbr.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 541. Breteler, F.W., ed. 1989. The Connaraceae: A taxonomic study with emphasis on Africa. Agric. Univ. Wageningen Pap. 89(6):1–403.
General references
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, 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
Poor fruit and acceptable seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Breteler (1989). Seed illustration(s): Breteler (1989). Embryo illustration(s): Engler & Prantl.
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Connarus grandis Jack: dehisced fruit with seed. • Seed. 2 of 3. Connarus grandis Jack: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Connarus patrisii (DC.) Planch.: 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’.
