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Common name: Plane-tree Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 6–7.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) simple; 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium; compound; achenosum (Spjut Fig. 6C-E & 3 families: Platanaceae, Rubiaceae, Sparganiaceae); without persistent central column; within accessory organ(s); within perianth, or bracts (for the basal hairs; Airy Shaw: "long bristly pappus hairs in tufts"); (3–)8(–9)-carpellate (really (3-)5–8(-9)); 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; in transection terete; apex beaked; apex moderately beaked; wall leathery; indehiscent. Epicarp brown (all shades); dull; durable; coriaceous; not glabrous (with hairs); hairs long (basally only); hairs not glandular; without armature; smooth; 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. Seed larger than minute; 1 to less than 5 mm long; linear; in transection terete; 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; 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; membranous, or thin; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve, or surrounding embryo. Hilum punctate (assumed). Endosperm scant; fleshy; with oils and proteins; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without chlorophyll; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve), or 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; axile and centric; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm (more or less); with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.5 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; circinate; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, Europe, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Platanus occidentalis L. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Platanus orientalis L.t -- 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
Platanus L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 170.
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, 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, Schopmeyer, C.S. 1974. Seeds of Woody plants in the United States. Agric. Handb. 450:1–883, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Schopmeyer. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Schopmeyer, Martin, Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 044: Platanus occidentalis L. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Platanus orientalis L.: fruiting head. • Seed. 2 of 3. Platanus orientalis L.: fruits. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Platanus occidentalis 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’.
