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Common name: Silky-tassel Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 13.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium; simple; berry (of authors, but not Spjut - see Notes); berry indehiscent; berry without central placental mass; without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; 1-seeded, or more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–2-seeded; 2(–3)-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; indehiscent, or dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp dull; durable; thin; not glabrous (with hairs); hairs long; hairs dense (more or less); hairs not glandular; without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; dry (at maturity); composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp absent. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; oblong and straight; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta present; fleshy. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; with fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate, or wrinkled; 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; brown (all shades) (assumed); fleshy and thick; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Raphe conspicuous; texture as testa; as long as seed; exerted from dehisced fruit. Endosperm development nuclear; copious; fleshy-soft, or hard (depending on author); smooth; with oils and hemicellulose; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; with petroselenic acid; 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); 0.3 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; straight; 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; moderately developed; 0.5 times length of embryo; not as wide as hypocotyl-radicle, or somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 0.9–1.1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World. North America (western), Middle America (to Panama and Greater Antilles).
Notes
Spjut labelled the fruit a foraminicidal capsule (opening by irregular diverging cracks or slits) and cited "Cronquist" Garrya elliptica illus 5.30b. But Cronquist noted "Fruit a long-persistent, 2-seeded berry, becoming dry and thin-walled at maturity, but indehiscent or only tardily dehiscent". Spjut's capsule not scored.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Garrya elliptica Douglas ex Lindl. -- Garrya × thuretii Carriere -- 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
Garrya Douglas ex Lindl.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 670.
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, 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, 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, Schopmeyer, C.S. 1974. Seeds of Woody plants in the United States. Agric. Handb. 450:1–883, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Schopmeyer. Seed illustration(s): Schopmeyer, LeMaout & Decaisne, Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Schopmeyer, Baillon, Martin, Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 204: Garrya wrightii Torr. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 4. Garrya fremontii Torr.: fruiting head. • Fruit. 2 of 4. Garrya fremontii Torr.: fruit. • Seed. 3 of 4. Garrya fremontii Torr.: seeds. • Embryo. 4 of 4. Garrya ovata Benth.: 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’.
