| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Common name: Philydrum Family.
Number of genera 3. Number of species 5.
Angiosperm. Liliopsida.
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; capsule; loculicidal capsule, or septicidal capsule (Cronquist, but not Spjut & neither of these fruit types cover the indehiscent fruit of Helmholtzia); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; Philydrum 1-carpellate, or 3-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent (Helmholtzia & type of fruit not scored). Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly, or irregularly (rarely); passively; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; with armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent. 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 (caplike body is not an elaiosome). Seed minute; less than 1 mm long; elliptic, or ovate, or pyriform (all with tails at each end); in transection terete; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface twisted pattern; 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; thick; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo. Hilum punctate. Endosperm development helobial and cellular (eventually); moderate, or copious; fleshy; smooth; with starch; with starch composed of solitary grains; with oils and proteins; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; with more or less isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.8 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleoptile; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 1 cotyledon. Cotyledons one and terminal with lateral plumule; not modified into scutellum; not circinately coiled. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed (assumed); straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Asia Major, southeastern Asia, Australia, and Oceania (to western Pacific Islands & southern Japan).
Notes
Score indehicent fruit of Helmholtzia according to Spjut. Chalazal end of seed enlarged for form a "cap-like" body, but not an elaiosome. Embryo 5.5 times longer than wide.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Helmholtzia F. Muell. -- Philydrella Caruel -- Philydrum Banks ex Gaertn.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1201.
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Dahlgren, R.M.T., H.T. Clifford and P.F. Yeo. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons, 520 pp. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 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, 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): Dahlgren et al., Gaertner, Baillon [see Goldberg]. Seed illustration(s): Dahlgren et al., Gaertner, Baillon. Embryo illustration(s): Dahlgren et al., Baillon.
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Philydrum languinosum Gaertner: dehsiced fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Philydrum languinosum Gaertner: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Philydrum languinosum Gaertner: 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’.
