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Common name: Garlic-tree Family.
Number of genera 2. Number of species 3 (Afrostyrax kamerunensis Perkins & Gilg, Afrostyrax leptidophyllus Mildbr., Hua gabonii Pierre ex De Wild.).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; carcerulus (Spjut only listed Afrostyrax, which is indehiscent, but he did not record the fruit for Hua which is dehiscent), or capsule (Hua not Spjut); loculicidal capsule (assumed); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–2-seeded; 5-carpellate (for Afrostyrax, but what about Hua); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; Afrostyrax indehiscent, or dehiscent (Hua). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; glabrous (without hairs) (assumed); without armature; 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 larger than minute; Afrostyrax circular, or oblong (Hua); 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 markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; 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; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Hilum basal. Endosperm copious; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; with odor of garlic.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.8 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; conical; 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; well developed; 0.75 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 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 moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Africa (tropical).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Afrostyrax J. R. Perkins & Gilg -- Hua Pierre ex De Wild. --
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 396. Perkins, J. 1928. Übersicht über die Gattungen der Styracaceae sowie Zusammenstellung der Abbildungen und Literator über die Arten dieser Familie bis zum Jahre 1928, 36 pp. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, 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
No fruit and acceptable seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): seed, or embryo. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen, Perkins (1928). Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 111: Afrostyrax leptidophyllus Mildbraed (A-B), Hua gabonii Pierre ex De Wild. (C-D).
• Fruit. 1 of 4. Hua gabonii Pierre ex DeWild.: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 2 of 4. Hua gabonii Pierre ex DeWild.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 4. Afrostyrax leptidophyllus Mildbr.: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 4. Hua gabonii Pierre ex DeWild.: 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’.
