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Synonyms: Sesamaceae Horan.; Trapellaceae Honda & Sakis.
Common name: Sesame Family.
Number of genera 14. Number of species 80.
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 (Spjut Fig. 16C), or capsule; loculicidal capsule (not Spjut); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded to many-seeded; 1-seeded (to many); from 1–5 cm long; 13–20 cm long; 2-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex beaked; apex long beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp blue; dull; durable; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs); hairs short; hairs scattered; hairs not glandular; without armature, or with armature; with horns, or spines; without armature glochidiate; smooth, or not smooth; without wing(s), or with wing(s) (Pterodiscus); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; hard (bony); composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system; and endocarp sharply differentiated. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; woody, or thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth, or not smooth; with lateral hooks, or lateral horns, or terminal horns, or prickles, or spinulose; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; 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; in transection compressed; 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; with markedly different marginal tissue, or without markedly different marginal tissue; marginal tissue winglike; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; dull; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with depressed features, or merged raised features; surface alveolate; surface sculptured; 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, or with wing(s) (Uncarina); with wing(s) solid; with solid wing(s) similar to testa; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; brown (all shades), or black; crustaceous, or membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo, or surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development cellular; moderate, or scant; fleshy; smooth; with oils; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve), or partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.9–1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons; straight; parallel to seed length; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.6–0.8 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2–2.8 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Spujt's ceratium capsule is based on fruits of Proboscidea & Martynia which are now in the Martyniaceae.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Sesamum indicum L. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Ibicella lutea (Lindl.) Van Eselt. (other family classification = Martyniaceae) -- Martynia annua L.w (other family classification = Martyniaceae) -- Martynia lutea Lindl. = Ibicella lutea (Lindl.) Van Eselt. (other family classification = Martyniaceae) -- Proboscidea louisianica (Mill.) Thell.w (other family classification = Martyniaceae) -- Proboscidea lutea (Lindl.) Stapf = Ibicella lutea (Lindl.) Van Eselt. (other family classification = Martyniaceae) -- Sesamum indicum L.a -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Ceratotheca Endl. -- Dicerocaryum Bojer -- Harpagophytum DC. ex Meisn. -- Holubia Oliv. -- Josephinia Vent. -- Linariopsis Welw. -- Pedaliodiscus Ihlenf. -- Pedalium D. Royen ex L. -- Pterodiscus Hook. -- Rogeria J. Gay ex Delile -- Sesamothamnus Welw. -- Sesamum L. -- Trapella Oliv. -- Uncarina (Baill.) Stapf
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 966 (also see Martyniaceae).
General references
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. 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, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, 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, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Engler & Prantl, Gaertner. Fruit illustration(s): Engler & Prantl. Seed illustration(s): Engler & Prantl, LeMaout & Decaisne. Embryo illustration(s): Martin, Engler & Prantl.
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Pedalium murex L.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 5. Pedalium murex L.: seeds with fruit wall. • Seed. 3 of 5. Pedalium murex L.: embryos. • Seed. 4 of 5. Sesamum indicum L.: seeds. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Sesamum indicum 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’.
