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Synonyms: Alsodeiaceae J. Agardh; Leoniaceae A. DC.
Common name: Violet Family.
Number of genera 21. Number of species 930.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; glandispermidium (Spjut 3 families: Berberidaceae, Liliaceae, Violaceae where Gymorinorea is now Decorsella), or capsule, or berry, or samara (Anchietea salutans); loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column, or with persistent central column (Decorsella); solid central column shaft; valves not diverging at top of central column; not within accessory organ(s), or within accessory organ(s); within receptacle; (2–)3(–5)-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, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; actively; explosively; at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp dull; durable; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs) (variously branched, villous processes); hairs not glandular; without armature, or with armature; with spines; without armature glochidiate; smooth, or not smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent, or present. Endocarp present, or absent; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; 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 Alexis, Hybanthus, Viola present, or absent; a true aril; white (ish); vestigal; adnate to hilum; fleshy; of funicular origin; basal; does not aid in seed explusion from fruit; cushionlike. Seed larger than minute; 1 to less than 5 mm long; 1–5 mm long; obovate; 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; shiny, or dull; surface smooth, or 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, or pubescent (rarely); with hairs over surface; with short hairs; densely hairy; with straight hairs; tomentose; without glandular pubescence; without wings, or with wing(s); 1-winged; with wing encompassing seed; with wing(s) solid; with solid wing(s) similar to testa; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome, or bichrome (mottled in Rinorea); brown (all shades), or gray, or white, or yellow, or green; membranous, or crustaceous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Raphe conspicuous (when seed ripe raphe sometimes separates), or inconspicuous; texture as testa; shorter than seed; included in dehisced fruit. Endosperm development nuclear; copious, or moderate, or scant (rarely); fleshy-soft; 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; 2 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.9 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.3–0.9 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 3.4–6 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; 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.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Viola cornuta L. -- Viola L. spp. -- Viola tricolor L. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Viola Wittrockiana Group -- Viola cornuta L.f -- Viola × hortensis auct. = Viola Wittrockiana Group -- Viola odorata L.f -- Viola tricolor L.f -- Viola tricolor hort., non L. = Viola Wittrockiana Group -- Viola × wittrockiana Gams = Viola Wittrockiana Group -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Agatea A. Gray -- Allexis Pierre -- Amphirrhox Spreng., nom. cons. -- Anchietea A. St.-Hil. -- Corynostylis Mart. -- Decorsella A. Chev. -- Fusispermum Cuatrec. -- Gloeospermum Triana & Planch. -- Hybanthus Jacq., nom. cons. -- Hymenanthera R. Br. -- Isodendrion A. Gray -- Leonia Ruiz & Pav. -- Mayanaea Lundell -- Melicytus J. R. Forst. & G. Forst. -- Noisettia Kunth -- Orthion Standl. & Steyerm. -- Paypayrola Aubl. -- Rinorea Aubl., nom. cons. -- Rinoreocarpus Ducke -- Schweiggeria Spreng. -- Viola L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 402.
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, Boerlage, J. G. 1897–1914. Icones Borgorienses, 4 vols. E.J. Brill, Leiden (plate numbers are in [ ]), Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, 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, 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], Gray, A. 1848. Genera florae Americae boreali-orientalis illustrata, 2 vols. James Munroe and Co., Boston., 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, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Roosmalen, M.G.M. van. 1985. Fruits of the Guianan flora, 483 pp. Institute of Systematic Botany, Wageningen Agricultural University. Drukkerij Veenman B.V., Wageningen, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182, Wood, C.E., Jr. 1974. A student's atlas of flowering plants: Some dicotyledons of eastern North America, 120 pp. Harper and Row, New York.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Baillon, Boerlage [I], Gray, Engler & Prantl, Roosmalen, Wood, Jr., Cronquist. Seed illustration(s): Baillon, LeMaout & Decaisne, Gray, Engler & Prantl, Wood, Jr. Embryo illustration(s): Baillon, LeMaout & Decaisne, Gray, Martin.
• Fruit. 1 of 10. Agatea violanis A. Gray: fruit with calyx. • Seed. 2 of 10. Agatea violanis A. Gray: seed. • Fruit. 3 of 10. Hymenanthera dentata R. Br. ex DC.: fruit. • Seed. 4 of 10. Hymenanthera dentata R. Br. ex DC.: seeds. • Fruit. 5 of 10. Isodendrion laurifolium A. Gray: dehisced fruit with calyx. • Seed. 6 of 10. Isodendrion laurifolium A. Gray: seed. • Fruit. 7 of 10. Leonia glycycarpa Ruiz & Pavon: fruit with peduncle. • Seed. 8 of 10. Leonia glycycarpa Ruiz & Pavon: fruit with seeds. • Seed. 9 of 10. Viola sororia Willd. var. sororia: seeds. • Embryo. 10 of 10. Viola tricolor 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’.
