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Synonyms: Orchidanthaceae Dostál, nom. inval.
Common name: Orchidantha Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 7.
Angiosperm. Liliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; crowned by shirvelled basal part of ovary prolongation; many-seeded; many; from 1–5 cm long to from 5.1–10 cm long; 2.5–8.5 cm long; 3-carpellate (assumed); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection angled; 3-angled; apex beaked; apex long beaked; wall chartaceous, or woody; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent at apex (assumed); and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp purple (ish); durable; chartaceous; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. 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 present; a true aril; well developed; adnate to hilum; fleshy; of funicular origin; fleshy; fimbriate-laciniate; lobed. Seed embedded in viscid endocarp tissue; larger than minute; 5 to less than 10 mm long; 7–10 mm long; circular; 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; 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; pubescent; without glandular pubescence; without wings; without collar; with operculum; colored; monochrome; black, or brown (all shades); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted. Endosperm with starch; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; with more or less isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; without coleoptile; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 1 cotyledon. Cotyledons one and not modified into scutellum; not circinately coiled.
Distribution
Old World. South China Asia Major, southeastern Asia, and Oceania (to Pacific Islands).
Notes
What does Holttum (1920) mean by "shrivelled basal part of the prolongation of the ovary"? Spjut did not cover this family. Seeds in 2 rows. Little data on embryo, none on food reserve.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Orchidantha N. E. Br.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1176. Holttum, R.E. 1970. The genus Orchidantha (Lowiaceae). Gard. Bull. Singapore 25:239–247.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Engler, A. 1900–1953. Das Pflanzenreich, nos. 1–107. Facsimile edition. Engelmann-Cramer, Weinheim, 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, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and poor seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed. Fruit illustration(s): Photo in (BARC) from (K) sheet. Seed illustration(s): Engler. Embryo illustration(s): 12 August 2008. Insufficient material of Orchidantha maxillarioides (Ridl.) K. Schum. at BARC for an embryo dissection. Joseph H. Kirkbride, Jr.
• Fruit. 1 of 2. Orchidantha maxillarioides (Ridl.) K. Schum.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 2. Orchidantha maxillarioides (Ridl.) K. Schum.: seed.
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’.
