The families of flowering plants
Habit and leaf form. Small or medium trees. Leaves alternate, or whorled; simple. Lamina entire. Leaves stipulate. Stipules without colleters. Lamina margins entire.
General anatomy. Plants with crystal sand.
Leaf anatomy. The leaf lamina dorsiventral.
Axial (stem, wood) anatomy. Internal phloem absent. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Primary medullary rays narrow.
The parenchyma mainly paratracheal (aliform to confluent). Included phloem absent.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in inflorescences; in panicles (thyrses). The ultimate inflorescence units cymose. Inflorescences terminal; terminal thyrses. Flowers large; very irregular; zygomorphic; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 9–10; 2 whorled; isomerous, or anisomerous. Calyx 4–5; 1 whorled; polysepalous (?); not persistent. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; gamopetalous; imbricate; campanulate; bilabiate.
Androecium 5. Androecial members adnate (epipetalous); markedly unequal (the filaments curved); free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; alternating with the corolla members; filantherous (the filaments bent at the base). Anthers dorsifixed (the base sagittate); dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 5–6 aperturate; colpate.
Gynoecium 2 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; inferior. Ovary 2 locular. Epigynous disk present (annular). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; apical. Stigmas 2. Placentation axile. Ovules 2–4 per locule; collateral.
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules loculicidal (semi-superior or almost superior, transversely ovoid, subreniform or discoid). Fruit 2–4 seeded. Seeds non-endospermic; wingless (but flattened).
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Tropical. Brazil.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Tenuinucelli. Dahlgrens Superorder Lamiiflorae; Scrophulariales. Cronquists Subclass Asteridae; Rubiales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Asteranae; lamiid; Order Gentianales (as a synonym of Rubiaceae).
Species 13. Genera 2; Henriquezia, Platycarpum.
General remarks. Seemingly differing from Rubiaceae in the large, very iregular, campanulate flowers and lack of inulin; but this description is inadequate, and the extent of intra-taxon within the large family may be under-estimated in the present compilation.
Illustrations. • Henriquesia verticillata: Nat. Pflanzenfam. IV (1895).
This description is offered for casual browsing only. We strongly advise against extracting comparative information from it. This is much more easily achieved using 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, distributions of character states within any set of taxa, geographical distribution, genera included in each family, and classifications (Dahlgren; Dahlgren, Clifford, and Yeo; Cronquist; APG).
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 19th August 2014. http://delta-intkey.com’.