| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Common name: Neurada Family.
Number of genera 3. Number of species 9.
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 anthocarp; simple; diclesium; without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; within accessory organ(s); within hypanthium; accrescent; persistent; with hypanthium follicles; with hypanthium composed of 1 layer; with hypanthium corky; more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 3–10-seeded (based on carpel count); 3–10-carpellate; with carpels separate; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent (literature is unclear about dehiscence - probably tardity dehiscent?). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively; linearly; by ventral sutures; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; without armature, or with armature; with spines; without armature glochidiate; smooth, or not smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; 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; sigmoid; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity without food reserves; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; 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.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve); 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; foliate; with investing cotyledons; bent; parallel to seed length; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.5–0.7 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2–4 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; partially concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate (at least auriculate); equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; curved; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Africa and southeastern Asia.
Notes
LeMaout & Decaisne: "Fruit capsule with 1-seeded cells (orbicular, formed of 10, 1-seeded follicles sunk in hardened receptacle". Airy Shaw: Capsule dehescing ventrally, style occasionally spinescent, seed horizontal.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Grielum L. -- Neurada L. -- Neuradopsis Bremek. & Oberm.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 577.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, 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, 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. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Gaertner. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 175: Neurada procumbens L. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Neurada procumbens L.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Neurada procumbens L.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Neurada procumbens 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’.
