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Common name: Sphenostemon Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 7.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit, or an incomplete fruit with epicarp and mesocarp absent and endocarp exposed, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; drupe (based on Aquifoliaceae); without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); more than 1 but less than 10-seeded to 25 to less than 50-seeded (estimated); (2–)4–6(–8)-carpellate (1-(2) seeds per locule); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; without sterile carpels; apex not beaked; indehiscent. Epicarp durable; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; bony; splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; not smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; with grooves, or without grooves (some deeply grooved); 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; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate; 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; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve, or surrounding embryo (Corner reduced to outer epidermis). Endosperm development cellular; copious; fleshy-firm; smooth; without starch; with oils and proteins; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo undifferentiated from food reserve, or differentiated from food reserve (barely); well developed, or rudimentary; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric, or basal; linear, or miniature (Martin classied as rudimentary); straight; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; acotyledonous, or with 2 or more cotyledons (barely). Cotyledons 2; tiny; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; flat; smooth; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle vestigial; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Southeastern Asia, Australia.
Notes
Copied from Aquifoliaceae.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Sphenostemon Baill.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 718 (Cronquist & Mabberley have in Aquifoliaceae).
General references
Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Illustrations
No fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit incomplete, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Karen. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 223: from Aquifoliaceae: Sphenostemon pauciflorum (A.C. Smith) Steenis & Erdtm. (G-H).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Sphenostemon papuanus (Laut.) Steen. & Erdtman: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Sphenostemon papuanus (Laut.) Steen. & Erdtman: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Sphenostemon papuanus (Laut.) Steen. & Erdtman: 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’.
