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Synonyms: Bontiaceae Horan.
Common name: Myoporum Family.
Number of genera 4. Number of species 220.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple, or schizocarp; drupe, or carcerulus; achenarium (Eremophila); without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); few; few; 2-carpellate; 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; indehiscent. Epicarp durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present, or absent; thin; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp, or separating spontaneously from exocarp (Eremophila); thin, or hard; splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; stone plurilocular, or unilocular; stone 1–4-loculate; without operculum; without secretory cavities; 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; curved, or straight; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without apparent food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present, or absent (achenarium fruit may not have testa); without embryo surrounded and capped by viscid tissue; 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; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo (or essentially). Endosperm development cellular; scant.
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); 0.9 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; straight, or arcuate (slightly); parallel to seed length; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.4–0.6 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World, New World. Middle America, South America, Africa, Asia Major (to eastern China, Japan), Australia, Oceania (to New Zealand, New Guinea).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Bontia L. -- Eremophila R. Br. -- Myoporum G. Forst. -- Ranopisoa J.-F. Leroy
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 955.
General references
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, 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. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Engler & Prantl, Cronquist. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 297: Bontia daphnoides L. (A-B), Eremophila longifolia (R. Br.) F. Muell. (C-D), Myoporum laetum (E-F) G. Forst.
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Myoporum sandwicensis A. Gray: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 5. Myoporum sandwicensis A. Gray: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 5. Bontia daphnoides L.: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 5. Eremophila longifolia (R. Br.) F. Muell.: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Myoporum laetum G. Forst.: 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’.
