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Synonyms: Behniaceae Conran et al.; Eustrephaceae Chupov; Geitonoplesiaceae R. Dahlgren ex Conran; Lapageriaceae Kunth; Luzuriagaceae Lotsy; Petermanniaceae Hutch., nom. cons.; Philesiaceae Dumort., nom. cons.; Ripogonaceae Conran & Clifford
Common name: Catbrier Family.
Number of genera 10. Number of species 225.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple, or schizocarp; berry (not Spjut); baccarium; berry indehiscent, or dehiscent (rarely & eventually); berry without central placental mass; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded, or many-seeded; 1–3-seeded (less often many); less than 1 cm long; 1 cm long; 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; in transection terete; apex not beaked; wall fleshy, or crustaceous (upon drying & then shedding); indehiscent. Epicarp dark blue; durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp absent. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed minute; 25 to less than 50 mm long; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); 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; tight; shiny; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with depressed features; surface pitted; 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, or membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development nuclear; copious; cartilaginous, or hard (very); semi- transparent; smooth; without starch, or with starch (Ripogonum); with proteins, hemicellulose, and lipids; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; rudimentary, or well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.2 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; conical; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 1 cotyledon. Cotyledons one and terminal with lateral plumule; not circinately coiled. Hypocotyl-radicle small; 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
Spjut did not cover this family. Embryo 3 times longer than wide.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Behnia Didr. -- Eustrephus R. Br. -- Geitonoplesium A. Cunn. ex R. Br. -- Heterosmilax Kunth -- Lapageria Ruiz & Pav. -- Luzuriaga Ruiz & Pav., nom. cons. -- Petermannia F. Muell., nom. cons. -- Philesia Comm. ex Juss. -- Ripogonum J. R. Forst. & G. Forst. -- Smilax L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1225.
General references
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, Hooker, J.D. 1873 and forward. Icones Plantarum. William & Norgate, London. (plate number cited in text within [ ]), Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and no seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Cronquist, LeMaout & Decaisne, Hooker [1394]. Embryo illustration(s): LeMout & Decaisne, Martin.
• Fruit. 1 of 5. Lapageria rosea Ruiz & Pav.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 5. Lapageria rosea Ruiz & Pav.: seeds. • Fruit. 3 of 5. Smilax herbacea L.: fruit. • Seed. 4 of 5. Smilax herbacea L.: seed clusters. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Smilax aspera 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’.
