| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Common name: Vellozia Family.
Number of genera 8. Number of species 252.
Angiosperm. Liliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; Spjut loculicidal capsule, or poricidal capsule, or fissuricidal capsule (latter two not Spjut); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); many-seeded; many; from 1–5 cm long; 1.5–2.5 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; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly, or irregularly; linearly, or non-linearly; by dorsal sutures and ventral sutures; by withering fruit wall (Pleurostema); and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; hard; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs) (puberulent to slightly tomentose); hairs not glandular; without armature; not smooth; ribbed; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent (assumed). 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 cuneate, or angular; 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; 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; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; red; coriaceous, or hard (some suberose); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm copious; very hard; smooth; with starch, or without starch; with hemicellulose, oils, and proteins; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; with more or less isodiametric faceted surface (but not bean-shaped); without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.2–0.3 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; lateral; linear; straight; oblique to seed length; lying along one side of endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleoptile; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 1 cotyledon. Cotyledons one and terminal with lateral plumule; not modified into scutellum; not circinately coiled. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
New World, Old World. Middle America, South America, Africa, Asia Minor.
Notes
Embryo 2.5–4 times longer than broad.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Aylthonia N. L. Menezes -- Barbacenia Vand. -- Burlemarxia N. L. Menezes & Semir -- Nanuza L. B. Sm. & Ayensu -- Pleurostima Raf. -- Talbotia Balf. -- Vellozia Vand. -- Xerophyta Juss.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1214. Menezes, N.L. de & J. Semir. 1991. Burlemaxia, a new genus of Velloziaceae. Taxon 40:413–426; Smith, L.B. 1962. A synopsis of the American Velloziaceae, part 4. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35:251–292.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Dahlgren, R.M.T., H.T. Clifford and P.F. Yeo. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons, 520 pp. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 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, LeMaout, E. and J. Decaisne. 1876. A general system of botany, 1,065 p. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 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
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Dahlgren et al., LeMaout & Decaisne. Seed illustration(s): Dahlgren et al., Goldberg. Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Goldberg.
• Fruit. 1 of 7. Vellozia phantasmagorica R. E. Schult.: fruit with peduncle. • Fruit and seed. 2 of 7. Vellozia phantasmagorica R. E. Schult.: fruit with seeds. • Seed. 3 of 7. Vellozia phantasmagorica R. E. Schult.: seeds. • Fruit. 4 of 7. Xerophyta dasylirioides Baker: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 5 of 7. Xerophyta dasylirioides Baker: seeds. • Embryo. 6 of 7. Barbacenia sp.: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 7. Barbacenia gracilis hort. ex Baker: 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’.
