| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Common name: Humaria Family.
Number of genera 8. Number of species 50.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit, or an incomplete fruit with epicarp and mesocarp absent and endocarp exposed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; drupe; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–2-seeded; pea to mango size; 3–4 cm long; (4–)5(–7)-carpellate (carpels 5 also have woody wings); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; indehiscent. Epicarp brown (all shades), or black and brown (all shades); dull; durable; without armature; smooth, or not smooth; rugose, or tuberculate; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy, or fibrous; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system; and endocarp sharply differentiated. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; woody; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; stone unilocular, or plurilocular; stone 2–6-loculate; smooth, or not smooth (blisterpod); with operculum, or without operculum; with numerous resinous secretory cavities, or 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; 25 to less than 50 mm long; 32 mm long; straight, or oblong; 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, or absent; without embryo surrounded and capped by viscid tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; loose; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate; 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) (at least); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm fleshy; smooth; with oils; 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; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons; straight, or C-shaped; 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; 0.5–0.7 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 1.5 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; foliaceous; hemispheric; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate, or entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World, Old World. Middle America, South America, Africa (one species in tropical West).
Notes
Read Cuatrecasas (1961).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Duckesia Cuatrec. -- Endopleura Cuatrec. -- Humiria Aubl., nom. cons. -- Humiriastrum (Urb.) Cuatrec. -- Hylocarpa Cuatrec. -- Sacoglottis Mart. -- Schistostemon (Urb.) Cuatrec. -- Vantanea Aubl.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 756. Cuatrecasas, J. 1961. A taxonomic revision of the Humiriaceae. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35(2):1–214; Ducke, A. 1937. Plantes nouvelles ou peu connues de le région Amazonienne (X serie). Arq. Inst. Biol. Veg. 4:24–31; Boesewinkel, F.D. 1985. The ovule and seed of Humiria balsamifera (Aubl.) St. Hil. Acta Bot. Neerl. 34:183–191.
General references
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, Gunn, C.R. and J.V. Dennis. 1976. World guide to tropical drift seeds and fruits, 240 pp. The New York Times Book Co., 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, Roosmalen, M.G.M. van. 1985. Fruits of the Guianan flora, 483 pp. Institute of Systematic Botany, Wageningen Agricultural University. Drukkerij Veenman B.V., Wageningen, 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 fruit incomplete, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Roosmalen, Ducke (1938), Cuatrecasas (1961). Fruit illustration(s): Ducke (1938), Gunn & Dennis, Cuatrecasas (1961). Seed illustration(s): Karen [F]. Embryo illustration(s): Engler & Prantl, Boesewinkel (1985), Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 238: Endopleura uchi (Huber) Cuatrec. (A), Humiria balsamifera Jaume St. Hil. (B-C), Humiriastrum cuspidatum (Bentham) Cuatrec. (D), Sacoglottis amazonica Mart. (E-F), Schistostemon macrophyllum (Bentham) Cuatrec. (G), Vantanea cupularis Huber (H).
• Fruit. 1 of 8. Humiria balsamifera Aubl.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 8. Humiria balsamifera Aubl.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 8. Endopleura uchi (Huber) Cuatrec.: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 8. Humiria balsamifera Aubl.: embryo. • Embryo. 6 of 8. Sacoglottis amazonica Mart.: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 8. Schistostemon macrophyllum (Benth.) Cuatr.: 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’.
