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Synonyms: Hugoniaceae Arn.
Common name: Flax Family.
Number of genera 13. Number of species 300.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels nearly separate to base. Fruit pericarpium; simple, or schizocarp; drupe (Hugonia), or capsule; achenarium, or coccarium (Linum); septicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column, or with persistent central column; valves not diverging at top of central column; within accessory organ(s); within calyx (& androecium); more than 1 but less than 10-seeded to 10 to less than 25-seeded; up to 10-seeded; Anisadena (2–)5-carpellate (rarely 3 in Reinwardtia & 4 in Radiola); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively (assumed); and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades); durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent, or present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system; and endocarp sharply differentiated. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin, or hard ("Hugoniaceae" taxa); not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; 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 (Corner: Tirpitzia with flattened arillate bag arising from funiculus & possibly serving as a wing). Seed larger than minute; 5 to less than 10 mm long; 5–6 mm long; ovate; in transection compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s), or with caudate appendage(s) (woody chalaza); at maturity with food reserves, or without food reserves, or without apparent food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; shiny, or dull; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface faintly 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), or black; coriaceous; becoming mucilaginous when wetted, or not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve, or surrounding embryo. Endosperm development nuclear, or helobial; scant, or copious (Indorouchera); fleshy-soft; 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; completely filling testa (no food reserve), or nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve), or partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.3–0.97 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons, or investing cotyledons; straight, or C-shaped (slightly); parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; with cotyledons containing oils; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.7 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle, or partially concealing hypocotyl-radicle; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Ctenolophon is now in Ctenolophonaceae.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Linum flavum L. -- Linum grandiflorum Desf. -- Linum lewisii Pursh -- Linum perenne L. -- Linum rubrum hort. = Linum grandiflorum ‘Rubrum’ Desf. -- Linum L. spp. -- Linum sulcatum Riddell -- Linum usitatissimum L. -- Linum virginianum L. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Linum catharticum L. -- Linum flavum L.f -- Linum grandiflorum Desf.f -- Linum narbonense L.f -- Linum perenne L.f -- Linum usitatissimum L.a -- 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
Anisadenia Wall. ex Meisn. -- Cliococca Bab. -- Hebepetalum Benth. -- Hesperolinon (A. Gray) Small -- Hugonia L. -- Indorouchera Hallier f. -- Linum L. -- Philbornea Hallier f. -- Radiola Hill -- Reinwardtia Dumort. -- Roucheria Planch. -- Sclerolinon C. M. Rogers -- Tirpitzia Hallier f.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 760 (including 759: Hugoniaceae & Mabberley; also see Ctenolophonaceae).
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, 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, Engler, A. and K. Prantl. 1924 and onward. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilimien. W. Engelman, Leipzig, 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., 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
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration of Hugoniaceae. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Baillon, Engler & Prantl, Cronquist, LeMaout & Decaisne. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen, LeMaout & Decaisne, Baillon, Martin. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 240: Anisadenia pubescens Griff. (A-B), Hesperolinon congestum (A. Gray) Small (C-D), Linum usitatissimum L. (E-F), Reinwardtia indica Dum. (G-H), Sclerolinon sp. (I-J), Tirpitzia sinensis H. Hallier (K-L). From plate 241: Hugonia ferruginea Wight & Arn. (C-D), Indorouchera sp. (E-F), Roucheria humirufolium Planch. (G-H). [A-B are transferred to Ctenolophonaceae].
• Fruit. 1 of 11. Hugonia ferruginea Wight & Arn.: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 2 of 11. Linum usitatissimum L.: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 11. Anisadenia pubescens Wall. ex Meisn.: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 11. Hesperolinon congestum (A. Gray) Small: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 11. Hugonia ferruginea Wight & Arn.: embryo. • Embryo. 6 of 11. Indorouchera sp.: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 11. Linum usitatissimum L.: embryo. • Embryo. 8 of 11. Reinwardtia indica Dum.: embryo. • Embryo. 9 of 11. Hebepetalum humiriifolium (Planch.) Benth.: embryo. • Embryo. 10 of 11. Sclerolinon sp.: embryo. • Embryo. 11 of 11. Tirpitzia sinensis (Hemsl.) Hallier f.: 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’.
