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Common name: Didierea Family.
Number of genera 4. Number of species 11.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit anthocarp; simple; diclesium; without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; within accessory organ(s); within involucre (loose); accrescent; persistent; 1-seeded; 1-seeded; (2–)3(–4)-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; in transection angled; 3-angled; apex not beaked; wall hard (nutlike); indehiscent. Epicarp durable; without armature (assumed); without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent. 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 present; a true aril; well developed (but small); adnate to hilum; of funicular origin; vaguely lobed. Seed larger than minute; 1 to less than 5 mm long to 5 to less than 10 mm long; 3–6 mm long; mitaform, or straight, or linear, or circular (more or less), or obovate; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity without food reserves, or without apparent food reserves, or with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; dull, or shiny; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle, or with crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle (Didierea); without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other, or with notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approaching each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo. Hilum larger than punctate. Endosperm development nuclear; trace; restricted to sheath around radicle; 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 almost); 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; foliate; arcuate, or U-shaped; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; moderately developed; 0.5 times length of embryo; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed, or moderately developed (or less); straight (more or less); not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Africa (Madagascar).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Alluaudia (Drake) Drake -- Alluaudiopsis Humbert & Choux -- Decaryia Choux -- Didierea Baill.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 256.
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., 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, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and accptable seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Corner, Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 068: Alluaudia humbertadi Choux (A-B), Alluaudiopsis marnieriana Rauh (C-D), Decaryia madagascariensis Choux (E-F) Didierea madagascariensis [not finalized].
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Didierea madagascariensis Baill.: fruits. • Seed. 2 of 5. Didierea madagascariensis Baill.: fruits. • Embryo. 4 of 5. Alluaudiopsis marnieniana Rauh: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Decarya madagascariensis Choux: 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’.
