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Common name: Lennoa Family.
Number of genera 2. Number of species 6.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; pyxidium capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s), or within accessory organ(s) (See Airy Shaw); within calyx and corolla; 10 to less than 25-seeded to 25 to less than 50-seeded; 12–28-seeded; less than 1 cm long; 0.3–0.4 cm long (in diameter); 5–16-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; wall fleshy (drying upon maturing); dehiscent. Dehiscent unit endocarp(s). Dehiscent regularly, or irregularly (to somewhat); passively; linearly; by circumscissile slit; at middle; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp dull (assumed); durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; 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, or minute; less than 1 mm long to 1 to less than 5 mm long; 0.5–1 mm long; reniform (slightly), or ovate; in transection compressed; 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; dull; surface unsmooth; surface with depressed features, or discreet raised features, or merged raised features; surface punctate; surface papillate (Pholisma); surface reticulate, or roughened; 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); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development cellular; copious; smooth; with starch; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; rudimentary; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; lenticular, or globose; parallel to seed length; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; acotyledonous. Hypocotyl-radicle undeveloped.
Distribution
New World. North America (southwestern), Middle America, South America (to Venezuela and Colombia).
Notes
Drupaceous-capsular or fleshy capsule enclosed by persistent calyx or corolla that dehisces 1-seeded stones enclosed by persistent calyx and corolla. Yatskievych (1986): "Fruit slightly depressed capsule, somewhat fleshy, but drying at maturity; dehiscent circumscisslely by an irregular ring below middle of capsule (fig. 10)" - like Portulacca.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Lennoa Lex. -- Pholisma Nutt. ex Hook. -- (GRIN synonymizes Ammobroma Torr. under Pholisma)
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 916. Yatskievych, G. & C.T. Mason, Jr. 1986. A revision of the Lennoaceae. Syst. Bot. 11:531–548; Thackery, F.A. & M.F. Gilman. 1930. A rare parasitic food plant of the Southwest. Rep. (Annual) Board Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1930:409–416 + 9 plates; Yatskievych, G. 1985. Notes of the biology of the Lennoaceae. Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 57:73–79; Dressler, R.L. & J. Kuijt. 1968. A second species of Ammobroma (Lennoaceae) in Sinaloa, Mexico. Madroña 19:179–182.
General references
Airy Shaw, H.K. 1973. A dictionary of the flowering plants and ferns, 1,131 pp. University Press, Cambridge, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, 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., 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, 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. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): seed, or embryo. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 285: Lennoa madreporoides Steud. (A-B), Pholisma arenarium Nutt. (C-D).
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Lennoa madreporoides Lexarza: fruits. • Fruit. 2 of 5. Lennoa madreporoides Lexarza: seeds. • Seed. 3 of 5. Lennoa madreporoides Lexarza: seed. • Embryo. 4 of 5. Lennoa madreporoides Lexarza: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Pholisma arenarium Nutt. ex Hook.: 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’.
