[NTK]
Every, J.L.R. (2009). Neotropical Metteniusaceae.
- Morphology
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Description
Evergreen trees (4-20m tall); indumentum of 2-branched hairs. Leaves simple , alternate , petiolate , leathery, margins entire ; venation pinnate , tertiary veins parallel and +/- perpendicular to the midrib . Inflorescence an axillary cyme of up to 17 flowers. Flowers on short pedicels, bracteate, actinomorphic , bisexual ; calyx 5 lobed , imbricate , slightly fused at the base, persistent in fruit ; corolla fused for 1/3 of its length into a narrow tube, 5 lobed , lobes reflexed , inner surface tomentose ; stamens 5, alternipetalous, adnate to corolla , strongly exserted , monifliform, hairy sagittate anthers; ovary superior , carpels 4 highly reduced (appearing monomerous), unilocular, ovule 1, pendent from the apex , style 1, 2cm long. Fruit a drupe , asymmetrically ridged, 5-ribbed, mesocarp leathery, endocarp woody , indehiscent . Seed 1, endosperm abundant, white.
- Distribution
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Distribution in the Neotropics
- Canopy trees found from Costa Rica in montane forests down along the Andes of Colombia to Venezuela and into Ecuador and Peru at up to 2,000m.
- Diagnostic
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Distinguishing characters (always present)
- Flowers c. 4 cm.
- Moniliform anthers (resembling a string of beads), 1 cm long.
- Uniovulate ovaries.
- Stamens connected to the petals.
- 2 bracts immediately below the calyx.
- Stamens exserted.
- Filaments 1.5 cm long, free and curled backwards.
- Style 2 cm in length.
- Flowers fragrant.
Metteniusa can be told apart from the following families (some of which have contained the genus) by the highlighted features, which the Metteniusaceae do not have:
- Cardiopteridaceae - small flowers (c. 4mm), stamens not exserted, small domatia on the underside of the leaves, two ovules, scorpioid inflorescence.
- Icacinaceae - free petals, two ovules and smaller flowers (3-7mm).
- Stemonuraceae - free petals, flat filament densely covered with white club-shaped hairs, the fruit flattened, bearing a large oblongfleshyappendage.
- Olacaceae - stamens opposite petals.
- Opiliaceae - unisexual flowers with tepals.
- Cornaceae - inferior ovary.
- General Description
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Number of genera
- Monogeneric: Metteniusa H.Karst.
- Exclusively Neotropical.
- M. edulis H. Karst. has fruits which are reportedly edible.
- The genus has been hard to place and has mainly found itself as a member of the Icacinaceae.
- The Metteniusaceae has, however, been sporadically accepted as a family in its own right ever since Karston (1859) described it in the Flora of Colombia.
- Recent molecular work has strengthened the case for the monotypic family as Gonzalez et al (2007) placed Metteniusa H.Karst. as an isolated genus near the base of the lamiid clade.
- Literature
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Important literature
González, F., J. Betancur, O. Maurin, J. V. Freudenstein & Mark W. Chase. 2007. Metteniusaceae, an early-diverging family in the lamiid clade. Taxon 56(3): 795-800.
Howard, R. A. 1940. Studies of Icacinaceae. I. Genera to be excluded. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 21: 485-6.
Karsten, G. K. W. H. 1859. Metteniusaceae. Pp79-80, t. 39 in: Florae Colombiae 1. Ferdinandi Duemmleri successors, Berlin.
Kårehed, J. 2001. Multiple origin of the tropical forest tree family Icacinaceae. American J. Bot. 88: 2259-2274.
Lozano-C., G. & de Lozano, N. B. 1988. Metteniusaceae. Flora de Colombia 11. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogata.
Maas, P. J. M. & Westra, L. Y. Th. 2005. Neotropical Plant Families. 3rd ed. P. 307. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell.
Stevens, P. F. (2008). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9 onwards. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/.
Utteridge, T.M.A. and Brummitt, R.K. 2007. Metteniusaceae. In: Heywood, V.H., Brummitt, R.K., Culham, A. and Seberg, O. (eds.). Flowering plant families of the world, p. 215. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Metteniusaceae H.Karst.ex Schnizl. appears in other Kew resources:
First published in Iconogr. Fam. Regn. Veg. 2: ad t. 142*. 1860 (1860)
Accepted by
- APG IV (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/boj.12385
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Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Neotropikey
Milliken, W., Klitgard, B. and Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0