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Common name: Waterwort Family.
Number of genera 2. Number of species 32.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; septicidal capsule (Bergia ammannioides Roxb. & Elatine hydropiper L.), or septifragal capsule (other authors, but not Spjut); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; with persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; less than 1 cm long (assumed); 2–5-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; apex not beaked; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; 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 absent. Seed minute; straight, or C-shaped, or U-shaped; in transection terete; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; surface unsmooth, or smooth (Merimea); surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate, or striate (transversely), or sculptured; 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; thin; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo, or surrounding food reserve. Hilum basal. Endosperm development nuclear; scant.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve), or nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve); 1 times the length of food reserve (nearly); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; straight, or arcuate, or U-shaped; parallel to seed length; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; tiny, or moderately developed; 0.2–0.6 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; moderately thick; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan (except for Arctic). New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Mabberley & Cronquist have only septifragal capsule, but Goldberg has occasionally leaving a columnella.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Bergia L. -- Elatine L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 334.
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], Gray, A. 1848. Genera florae Americae boreali-orientalis illustrata, 2 vols. James Munroe and Co., Boston., 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, 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
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations.Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Gray, Engler & Prantl, LeMaout & Decasine. Seed illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, Karen, LeMaout & Decaisne, Engler & Prantl, Gray. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 094: Bergia texana Seub. ex Walp. (A-B), Elatine hexandra DC. (C-D).
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Elatine hexandra (Lapierre) DC.: fruits. • Seed. 2 of 5. Elatine hexandra (Lapierre) DC.: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 5. Bergia capensis L.: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 5. Bergia texana (Hook.) Seub. ex Walp.: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Elatine hexandra (Lapierre) DC.: 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’.
