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Common name: Tepui Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 5.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
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; not within accessory organ(s); more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 3-seeded; less than 1 cm long to from 1–5 cm long; 0.6–1 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 hard (osseous); dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades); dull; durable; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs); hairs short; hairs dense (sericeous); hairs brown; 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; 4–5 mm long; lanceolate to ovate (with elongate tip); in transection terete; 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; dull; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface 1- ridged; 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; brown (all shades); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Raphe conspicuous; as long as seed; included in dehisced fruit. Endosperm copious; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; rudimentary (= small); 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; linear (linear); straight (all after 292 are assumed); parallel to seed length; capping one end of endosperm; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2 (poorly defined); scarcely differentiated; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle small; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World. South America (Guayana highlands).
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Tepuianthus Maguire & Steyerm.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 706. Maguire, B. & J. Steyermark. 1981. Tepuianthaceae. In: B. Maguire, ed., The botany of the Guayana Highland - part XI. Mem. New York Bot. Gard 32:4–21.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, 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, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Maguire & Steyermark (1981). Seed illustration(s): Maguire & Steyermark (1981). Embryo illustration(s): Maguire & Steyermark (1981).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Tepuianthus savannensis Maguire & Steyerm.: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 2 of 3. Tepuianthus savannensis Maguire & Steyerm.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Tepuianthus auyantepuiensis Maguire & Steyerm.: 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’.
