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Common name: Ratany Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 15.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) simple (other sterile); 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium; simple; camara; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded; 1-seeded (often without a seed); less than 1 cm long to from 1–5 cm long; 0.4–1.2 cm long (diameter); 2-carpellate (1 fertile & 1 sterile); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; with sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; indehiscent, or dehiscent (tardily). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent irregularly; passively; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp green; durable; not glabrous (with hairs) (canescent, hispid, sericeous, villous); hairs dense (at least); hairs not glandular; with armature, or without armature (Krameria grandiflora A. St.-Hil.); with bristles, or spines (& amber barbed or not & red, orange, black, white, brown, purple); without armature glochidiate; 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. Seed larger than minute; in transection terete; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity without food reserves; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface 1- ridged, 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; gray to brown (all shades); membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; foliate; with investing cotyledons; straight; 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; 0.8 times length of embryo (estimated); somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thick; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate (sagittate); equal in size; not punctate dotted.
Distribution
New World. North America, Middle America, South America (to Chile).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Krameria L. --
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 779. Simpson, B.B. 1989. Krameriaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 49:1–108.
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, Flora Neotropica. 1968–74. Nos. 1–14. Hafner Publishing Company, Darien and 1976-. Nos. 15-present. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx [monograph number], 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], Gray, A. 1848. Genera florae Americae boreali-orientalis illustrata, 2 vols. James Munroe and Co., Boston., 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, Martius, C.F.P. von. 1840–1906. Flora Brasiliensis. 15 vols. Lindaueri, Munich, 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 seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Gray, Karen, Flora Neotropica [49]. Seed illustration(s): Gray, Martius. Embryo illustration(s): Karen, Gray, Martius, LeMaout & Decaisne.
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Krameria erecta Willd. ex Schult.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Krameria erecta Willd. ex Schult.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Krameria lappacea (Dombey) Burdet & B. B. Simpson: 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’.
