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Common name: Jojoba Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 1 (Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid.).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed, or an embryo.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; within accessory organ(s); within calyx; 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–3-seeded; 3-carpellate (2 both often empty); 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 not beaked; wall leathery; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades); shiny; durable; glabrous (without hairs); 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; 10 to less than 25 mm long; 14–17 mm long; oblong; in transection sub triangular; 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; shiny; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate, or ribbed, or wrinkled; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; with glands; without bristles; pubescent; with hairs over surface; with short hairs; with straight hairs; with glandular pubescence; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; reddish- brown (all shades), or black; coriaceous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo, or surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development nuclear; trace.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; nearly filling testa (trace or scanty 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; straight; parallel to seed length; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; with simmondsin (cyanogenic glucoside) (& a high proportion of an unusual liquid wax); without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.9 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 5 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle (estimated); partially concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thick; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally cordate; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle small; straight (or very slightly bent); not thickened.
Distribution
New World. North America.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid. -- 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
Simmondsia Nutt.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 733. Tobe, H., S. Yasuda, & K. Oginuma. 1992. Seed coat anatomy, karyomorpology, and relationships of Simmondsia (Simmondsiaceae). Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 105:529–538.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, 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, 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): Cronquist. Seed illustration(s): Schopmeyer, Karen, Cronquist. Embryo illustration(s): Schopmeyer, Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 231: Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C.K. Schneid. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid.: 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’.
