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Synonyms: Hydroleaceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Common name: Waterleaf Family.
Number of genera 17. Number of species 275.
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; capsule; foraminicidal capsule, or loculicidal capsule (Phacelia), or septicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; within accessory organ(s); within calyx (Hydrolea); more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 4–8-seeded; 2(–4)-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; sulcate; in transection terete; wall membranaceous, or fleshy (nearly); dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively (assumed); at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp blue, or brown (all shades); durable; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs); hairs short; hairs not glandular; without armature; smooth; 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, or present (Nemophila); an arillike structure. Arillike structure falling with seed an elaisome (Nemophila & fleshy). Seed larger than minute, or minute; less than 1 mm long to 1 to less than 5 mm long; 0.8–2.1 mm long; circular, or ovate, or oblong, or straight, or C-shaped; in transection terete; 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 fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight, or loose; dull (assumed); surface unsmooth, or smooth; surface with depressed features, or discreet raised features, or merged raised features; surface pitted, or grooved (longitudinally); surface tuberculate; surface ruminate, or reticulate, or ribbed (longitudinal or laterally); 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), or yellow, or black, or red; membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development cellular, or nuclear (occasionally); copious to scant; fleshy, or hard (seldom); 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), or nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve); 0.2–1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric, or axile and excentric; foliate, or linear; with spatulate cotyledons; straight; parallel to seed length; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle, or gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed, or moderately developed; 0.2–0.7 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle, or somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle, or not as wide as hypocotyl-radicle (Nama); 1–3 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; thin; flat; corrugate; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed, or moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World. North America.
Notes
Indehiscent fruit unknown and not scored. Fruit glandular pubsecent or puberulent.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Hydrolea spinosa L.w -- Hydrolea zeylanica (L.) Vahlw -- Nemophila aurita Lindl. = Pholistoma auritum (Lindl.) Liljaf -- Nemophila maculata Benth. ex Lindl.f -- Nemophila menziesii Hook. & Arn.f -- Phacelia campanularia A. Grayf -- Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.a -- Pholistoma auritum (Lindl.) Liljaf -- 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
Codon L. -- Draperia Torr. -- Ellisia L., nom. cons. -- Emmenanthe Benth. -- Eriodictyon Benth. -- Eucrypta Nutt. -- Hesperochiron S. Watson, nom. cons. -- Hydrolea L., nom. cons. -- Hydrophyllum L. -- Nama L., nom. cons. -- Nemophila Nutt., nom. cons. -- Phacelia Juss. -- Pholistoma Lilja -- Romanzoffia Cham. -- Tricardia Torr. -- Turricula J. F. Macbr. -- Wigandia Kunth, nom. cons.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 906. Bacon, J.D. 1989. Seed coat morphology of Draperia systyla (Hydrophyllaceae) and its importance to the systematics of Nama. Sida 13:461–466; Davenport, L.J. 1988. A monograph of Hydrolea (Hydrophyllaceae). Rhodora 90:169–208; Chuang, T.I. & L. Constance. 1992. Seeds and systematics in Hydrophyllaceae: Tribe Hydrophylleae. Amer. J. Bot. 79:257–264.
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, 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], 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, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Cronquist, Gunn & Ritchie. Seed illustration(s): Bacon (1989), Davenport (1988), Gunn & Ritchie, Chuang & Constance (1992). Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Gunn & Ritchie, Martin.
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Hydrophyllum appendiculatum Michx.: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 2 of 3. Hydrophyllum appendiculatum Michx.: seeds.
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’.
