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Common name: Shingle-plant Family.
Number of genera 7. Number of species 108.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; carcerulus, or capsule (Spjut cited Caracasia now Ruyschia); Norantea foraminicidal capsule, or loculicidal capsule (not Spjut & according to authors eventually slightly loculicidally dehiscing basally); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; 2–8-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; wall fleshy; indehiscent, or dehiscent (gradually). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; passively; at base; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present, or absent; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present, or absent; 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; oblong; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); 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; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface 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; thin; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo (or essentially). Hilum larger than punctate; marginal. Endosperm development cellular; scant; without starch, or with starch (Norantea); with oils.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve) (or essentially); 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; linear; straight, or arcuate (slightly); parallel to seed length; surrounding perisperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; moderately developed; 0.3–0.7 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle, or somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 1–2 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed, or well developed, or small; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World. Middle America, South America.
Notes
Seeds sunken into fleshy placenta.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Marcgravia L. -- Marcgraviastrum (Wittm. ex Szyszyl.) ex de Roon & S. Dressler -- Norantea Aubl. -- Ruyschia Jacq. -- Sarcopera Bedell ex de Roon & S. Dressler -- Schwartzia Vell. -- Souroubea Aubl.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 331. Martius, C.F.P. von. 1832. Nov. Gen. sp. pl. 3: plates 292–297. Lindaueri, München.
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. 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, 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, 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
Poor fruit and acceptable seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Baillon. Seed illustration(s): Baillon, LeMaout & Decaisne, Martius. Embryo illustration(s): Baillon, LeMaout & Decaisne, Martius.
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Norantea brasiliensis Choisy: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Norantea brasiliensis Choisy: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Marcgravia umbellata L.: 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’.
