| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Unless indicated otherwise, the following attributes are implicit throughout the descriptions, except where the characters concerned are inapplicable.
Fruits
Fruit capsule not inflated; without operculum; without persistent central column; without sterile carpels; apex not beaked. Dehiscent without replum; fruit without centered partition attached to replum. Epicarp durable; hairs not glandular; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp without operculum; without secretory cavities; without longitudinal ridges; without fracturing longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril does not aid in seed explusion from fruit. Seed larger than minute; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; without canavanine. Testa present; without embryo surrounded and capped by viscid tissue; without glands; without glandular pubescence; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted. Endosperm without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Perisperm opaque. Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; without coleoptile; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons equal in size; not punctate dotted; one and not modified into scutellum; one and not circinately coiled. Hypocotyl-radicle not thickened.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed 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’.