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Synonyms: Baxteriaceae Takht.; Calectasiaceae Schnizl.; Dasypogonaceae Dumort.; Kingiaceae Endl.; Lomandraceae Lotsy; Xerotaceae Hassk., nom. illeg.
Common name: Blackboy Family.
Number of genera 10. Number of species 60.
Angiosperm. Liliopsida.
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; capsule, or achene (not Spjut); loculicidal capsule, or fissuricidal capsule (not Spjut); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded (to few); 1-seeded (to few); 3-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection triangular; apex not beaked; apex beaked; wall membranaceous, or woody; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly, or irregularly; passively; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; unknown, but capsules are "woody or cartilaginous"; without armature; not smooth; warted; 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; thin, or hard; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; not smooth, or smooth; with spinulose; 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 minute; less than 1 mm long, or 1 to less than 5 mm long; 0.5–1 mm long; ovate; in transection sub terete, or triangular (sub); 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; 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; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm copious; cartilaginous, or hard; smooth; without starch; with proteins, oils, and hemicellulose (often); without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; with more or less isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric and basal; straight, or arcuate (rarely); transverse to seed length (according to literature); embedded in 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 (cotyledon is terminal but plumule may not be developed); not modified into scutellum; circinately coiled. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; much thickened (radicle very small). Plumule undeveloped.
Distribution
Old World. New Guinea & New Caledonia southeastern Asia and Australia (& Tasmania).
Notes
Spjut did note score 1-seeded nut of Kingia & Catectasia.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Acanthocarpus Lehm. -- Baxteria R. Br., nom. cons. -- Calectasia R. Br. -- Chamaexeros Benth. -- Dasypogon R. Br. -- Kingia R. Br. -- Lomandra Labill. -- Romnalda P. F. Stevens -- Xanthorrhoea Sm. -- Xerolirion A. S. George
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 1221.
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Flora of Australia (various years and volumes). Australian Government Publication, Canberra, 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, 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): Flora of Australia, LeMaout & Decaisne, Baillon [see Goldberg]. Seed illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Baillon. Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne.
• Fruit. 1 of 8. Acanthocarpus preissii Lehm.: fruits. • Seed. 2 of 8. Acanthocarpus preissii Lehm.: seeds. • Fruit. 3 of 8. Kingia australis R. Br.: fruiting head. • Fruit. 4 of 8. Kingia australis R. Br.: fruit. • Seed. 5 of 8. Kingia australis R. Br.: seed. • Fruit. 6 of 8. Xanthorrhoea australis R. Br.: dehisced fruit with scales. • Seed. 7 of 8. Xanthorrhoea australis R. Br.: seeds. • Embryo. 8 of 8. Xanthorrhoea preissii Endl.: 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’.
