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Common name: Tovaria Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species 2.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; berry; berry indehiscent; berry with soft and juicy central placental mass easily separating from epicarp; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; (5–)6(–8)-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; indehiscent. Epicarp durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; not smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp absent. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute (small); reniform; in transection compressed; 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 unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; with notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approaching each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm development nuclear; thin; smooth; with oils; 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; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.7 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; peripheral; linear; arcuate; parallel to seed length; surrounding endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; moderately developed, or well developed; 0.3–0.5 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed, or well developed; curved; not thickened.
Distribution
New World. Middle America, South America.
Notes
Spjut did not covered this family.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Tovaria Ruiz & Pav., nom. cons.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 442.
General references
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, 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, Hutchinson, J. 1964. The families of flowering plants, vol. I. Dicotyledons. Clarendon Press, Oxford, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and acceptable seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Hooker [DCLXIV], Engler & Prantl. Seed illustration(s): Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 132: Tovaria pendula Ruiz & Pav. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 4. Tovaria pendula Ruiz & Pav.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 4. Tovaria pendula Ruiz & Pav.: fruit without epicarp showing seeds. • Seed. 3 of 4. Tovaria pendula Ruiz & Pav.: seeds. • Embryo. 4 of 4. Tovaria pendula Ruiz & Pav.: 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’.
