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Common name: Medusagyne Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 1 (Medusagyne oppositifolia Baker).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit anthocarp and pericarpium; simple; capsule; septicidal capsule (of authors, but not Spjut); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; schizocarp; polachenarium; with persistent central column; valves diverging from top of central column (resembling umbrella ribs); not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; 17–25-carpellate; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively (assumed); at base; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; 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 absent. Seed minute; ovate; in transection flattened; 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; with markedly different marginal tissue; marginal tissue winglike; 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; glabrous; with wing(s); 1-winged; with wing encompassing seed; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo. Endosperm scant.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve) (essentially); chamber central to wings; 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; nearly equal in size, or unequal in size; not punctate dotted.
Distribution
Old World. Southeastern Asia (Seychelles).
Notes
Embryo clavate & scored as linear & 2 mm long.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Medusagyne Baker
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 336.
General references
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, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit. Fruit illustration(s): Goldberg. Seed illustration(s): Karen [questionable]. Embryo illustration(s): Karen [questionable]. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 096: Medusagyne oppositifolia Baker (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Medusagyne oppositifolia Baker: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Medusagyne oppositifolia Baker: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Medusagyne oppositifolia Baker: 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’.
