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Synonyms: Aegialitidaceae Lincz.; Armeriaceae Horan.; Limoniaceae Ser.; Staticaceae Cassel
Common name: Leadwort Family.
Number of genera 24. Number of species 440.
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, or pericarpium; simple; capsule, or achene (both not Spjut); pyxidium capsule (neither Spjut nor "upwardly dehiscent by valves" & type of dehiscences recorded); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; simple; diclesium; without persistent central column; within accessory organ(s); within calyx; accrescent; persistent; 1-seeded; 1-seeded; 5-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; apex not beaked; wall membranaceous; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively (assumed); at base (& upward); and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. 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; 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; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface striate; 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; thin; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo, or surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development nuclear; copious; crystalline-granular, or floury; smooth; with starch; 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; nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve), or completely filling testa (no 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; oblique to seed length; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle (more or less); without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; Aegealites (0.2–)0.9 times length of embryo (really 0.4–0.9); somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2–3 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; thin, or moderately thick; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed, or 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.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Armeria Willd. spp. -- Limonium californicum (Boiss.) A. Heller -- Limonium perezii (Stapf) F. T. Hubb. -- Limonium sinuatum (L.) Mill. -- Plumbago auriculata Lam. -- Psylliostachys suworowii (Regel) Roshkova -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Armeria maritima Willd.f -- Armeria splendens (Lag. & Rodr.) Webb -- Ceratostigma plumbaginoides Bunge -- Goniolimon tataricum (L.) Boiss.f -- Limonium bellidifolium (Gouan) Dumort.f -- Limonium bonduellei (T. Lestib.) Kuntzef -- Limonium gerberi Soldanof -- Limonium latifolium (Sm.) Kuntze, non Moench = Limonium gerberi Soldanof -- Limonium sinuatum (L.) Mill.f -- Limonium suworowii (Regel) Kuntze = Psylliostachys suworowii (Regel) Roshkova -- Limonium tataricum (L.) Mill. = Goniolimon tataricum (L.) Boiss. -- Plumbago auriculata Lam. -- Plumbago capensis Thunb. = Plumbago auriculata Lam. -- Psylliostachys suworowii (Regel) Roshkovaf -- 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
Acantholimon Boiss., nom. cons. -- Aegialitis R. Br. -- Armeria Willd., nom. cons. -- Bamiania Lincz. -- Bukiniczia Lincz. -- Cephalorhizum Popov & Korovin -- Ceratolimon M. B. Crespo & M. D. Lledó -- Ceratostigma Bunge -- Chaetolimon (Bunge) Lincz. -- Dictyolimon Rech. f. -- Dyerophytum Kuntze -- Eremolimon Lincz. -- Ghaznianthus Lincz. -- Goniolimon Boiss. -- Ikonnikovia Lincz. -- Limoniastrum Fabr. -- Limoniopsis Lincz. -- Limonium Mill., nom. cons. -- Muellerolimon Lincz. -- Neogontscharovia Lincz. -- Plumbagella Spach -- Plumbago L. -- Popoviolimon Lincz. -- Psylliostachys (Jaub. & Spach) Nevski -- Saharanthus M. B. Crespo & M. D. Lledó -- Vassilczenkoa Lincz. --
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 282.
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, 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. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne. Seed illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne. Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne.
• Fruit. 1 of 7. Limonium macrophyllum (Brouss. ex Spreng.) Kuntze: fruit with floral parts. • Fruit. 2 of 7. Limonium macrophyllum (Brouss. ex Spreng.) Kuntze: fruit with floral parts. • Seed. 3 of 7. Limonium macrophyllum (Brouss. ex Spreng.) Kuntze: seeds. • Fruit. 4 of 7. Plumbago scandens L.: fruit. • Seed. 5 of 7. Plumbago scandens L.: seeds. • Embryo. 6 of 7. Aegialitis annulata R. Br.: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 7. Limonium lobatum (L. f.) Chaz.: 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’.
