[FWTA]
Melianthaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:2. 1958
- Morphology General Habit
- hrubs or small trees
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves alternate, pinnate, stipulate; stipules intrapetiolar, often large
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers hermaphrodite, rarely unisexual, racemose, zygomorphic
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx of 5 unequal segments, imbricate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 5, free, subperigynous, clawed, unequal
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Nectaries
- Disk unilateral or annular, lining the inside of the calyx
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium
- Stamens 4–6, inserted within the disk, free or variously connate, often declinate; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium
- Ovary 4–5-celled, superior; style central, dentate or truncate; ovules 1–4 in each cell, axile
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a papery or woody capsule, loculicidally 4–5-valved or opening only at the apex
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds with copious endosperm and straight embryo
[FTEA]
Melianthaceae, B. Verdcourt (East African Herbarium). Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1958
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs or trees
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves alternate, pinnate; stipules present and often large
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers hermaphrodite or often functionally unisexual, more or less irregular, in conspicuous racemes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx-segments 4–5, somewhat unequal, imbricate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 5, free, unequal, clawed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Nectaries
- Disc pentagonal-annular or variously unilateral
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium
- Stamens 4–6, free or somewhat connate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium
- Style simple; stigma small or capitate Ovary superior, 4–5–locular Ovules axile, 1–4 per loculus
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a papery or woody capsule
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds large with copious endosperm
[FZ]
Melianthaceae, F. White. Flora Zambesiaca 2:2. 1966
- Morphology General Habit
- Trees or shrubs
- Morphology General Indumentum
- Indumentum of simple hairs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves alternate, imparipinnate or 3-foliolate
- Morphology Leaves Stipules
- Stipules present, usually large, either in pairs at the base of the petiole or fused and intrapetiolar (Bersama)
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence of conspicuous terminal or axillary racemes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers bisexual in appearance but often unisexual and then apparently dioecious or polygamous, slightly to markedly zygomorphic, usually 4–5-merous; sepals and petals dissimilar
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Sepals 4–5, shorter or longer than the petals, united at the base, with lobes imbricate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 4–5, free, imbricate, unequal, unguiculate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Nectaries
- Disk extrastaminal, annular-pentagonal or variously unilateral
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium
- Stamens 4–5(8), free or connate at the base; anthers 2-thecous, dehiscing longitudinally
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium
- Ovary superior, 4–5-locular, with basal or axile placentation; ovules 1–4 per loculus; style 1, stigma capitate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a papery or woody loculicidal capsule
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds large, with copious endosperm; aril present or absent
[NTK]
Weigend, M. (2009). Neotropical Vivianiaceae.
- Morphology
-
Description
Shrubs, very rarely annual herbs, spine -tipped short-shoots (brachyblasts) often present. Leaves opposite throughout, rarely in whorls of three, simple , mostly ovate and coarsely crenate to pinnatisect to pinnatifid , sometimes tiny (ca. 1-2 mm, on conical short shoots forming little green cones), base cuneate to cordate ; estipulate. Inflorescences terminal , thyrsoids or pleiothyrsoids, sometimes apparently single and terminal ; inflorescence bracteose or frondose, bracts in Balbisia Cav. often deeply pinnatisect and situated diretly at base of calyx . Flowers hermaphrodite , (4-)5- merous , actinomorphic ; sepals well developed, sometimes larger than petals, entire with acute , usually aristate apex ; petals 0-4-5, (ob-) ovate to widely circular or obcordate, often apically emarginate , pink, white, or yellow; stamens (4-5)-10, usually obdiplostemonous and heterantherous with typically five long and five short stamens, filaments sometimes with pair of basal appendages; gynoecium of 3-5 carpels, syncarpous with 3-5 locules ; style very short, with 3-5 long, papillose stigmatic branches; ovary 3-5- lobed , with 1-20, pendulous, campylotropous ovules in each locule . Nectary disc absent, nectarines sometimes situated on filament appendages. Fruit septicidal or septifragal capsules with 1-8-seeded locules , rarely 5 schizocarps.
- Distribution
-
Distribution in the Neotropics
Vivianiaceae comprise 3 genera and 17 species, all in Southern South America. Most of them are found in semi-arid areas on the western side of the Andes in South America; only Rhynchotheca is endemic to interandean valleys of Peru and Ecuador, where it is found in cloud-forest remnants (e.g. hedges).
- Rhynchotheca (1 species) - Peru, Ecuador.
- Balbisia (11 species) - Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina.
- Viviania (5 species) - Chile, 1 in Argentina, Uruguay, S Brazil.
- Diagnostic
-
Key differences from similar families
- Similar to Geraniaceae, but always thin-stemmed and densely branched shrubs (1 herb!).
- Leaves ovate in outline and shortly petiolate to subsessile.
- Leaves never palmate.
- Balbisia (11 species): flowers bowl-shaped, with yellow, sometimes yellowish-green or reddish-yellow corolla, fruit capsular, flower subtended by pair of deeply divided bracts.
- Rhynchotheca (1 species): flowers apetalous, anthers pendulous, 5-partedschizocarp.
- Viviania (5 species): flowercampanulate, with white or pink petals, pedicellate without bracts directly at base, fruit capsular.
- Predominantly shrubs, often with spines.
- Soft pubescence usually present.
- Flowers very similar to Geraniaceae.
- Sepals with aristate tip.
- Ovary superior and mostly 5-lobed (superficially identical to those of Geraniaceae).
- Fruit not falling into mericarpids, apart from Rhynchotheca spinosa Ruiz & Pav.
- R. spinosa with apetalous flowers.
- General Description
-
Number of genera
- 3 genera.
- All species are native, and some species are narrowly endemic.
- Hunziker & Ariza Espinar (1973) reduced Wendtia Meyen under Balbisia, this judgement is followed here.
- Viviania has been treated either in a wider sense (Knuth 1912) or segregated into a total of 4 genera (3 monotypic genera Cissabryon Meisn., Caesarea Cambess. and Araeoandra Lefor, Lefor 1975).
- The segregate genera of Lefor (1975) may or may not be natural entities, but Viviania s.l. including the segregates appears to be a natural unit and a single genus seems amply sufficient to accommodate its 6 species.
- Rhynchotheca may be the only anemophilous species of Geraniales; its schizocarpic fruits resemble those of Geraniaceae, but are apparently homoplasious.
- Viviania has nectar -flowers, whereas Balbisia is nectarless and has pollen flowers (Weigend 2005).
- Members of the Vivianiaceae have often been placed in Geraniaceae or segregated into two families, Vivianiaceae (Viviania Cav.) and Ledocarpaceae (Balbisia, Rhynchotheca Ruiz & Pav.).
- The three genera are closely allied and are here considered as parts of a single family.
- Vivianiaceae together with Geraniaceae and Melianthaceae s.l. (incl. Francoaceae) make up the core (and possibly only) families of Geraniales.
- Literature
-
Important literature
Ariza Espinar, L. 1995a. Flora Fanerogámica Argentina Fasciculo 8, 129b. Vivianiaceae. - Córdoba (Argentina): CONICET.
Ariza Espinar, L. 1995b. Flora Fanerogámica Argentina Fasciculo 18, 129a. Ledocarpaceae. - Córdoba (Argentina): CONICET.
Boelcke, O. 1989. Plantas Vasculares de la Argentina. Buenos Aires: Editorial Hemisferio Sur S.A. Brako, L., & Zarucchi, J. L.1993. Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45.
Correa, N.M. 1988. Flora Patagonica V - Dicotyledones dialipétalas. Buenos Aires: INTA.
Hunziker, A.T., & Ariza Espinar, L.1973. Aporte a la rehabilitación de Ledocarpaceae, familia monotipica. Kurtziana 7: 233-240.
Jørgensen P.M., & Yanez León, S. 1999. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75.
Lefor, M. W. M. 1975. 2012. A taxonomic revision of the Vivianiaceae. Univ. Conn. Occ. Papers, Biol. Sc. Ser. 2/15: 225-255.
Plazzesi, L., Gottschling, M., Barreda V. & Weigend, M. 2012. First Miocene fossils of Vivianiaceae shed new light on phylogeny, divergence times, and historical biogeography of Geraniales. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 107: 67-85.
Price, R.A., & Palmer, J. D. 1993. Phylogenetic relationships of the Geraniaceae and Geraniales from rbcL sequence comparisons. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 80: 661-671.
San Martín, J. 1983. Medicinal Plants in Central Chile. Economic Botany 37(2): 216-227.
Soltis, D. E., Soltis, P. S., Chase, M. W., Mort, M. E., Albach, D. C., Zanis, M., Savolainen, V., Hahn, W. H., Hoot, S. B., Fay, M. F., Axtell, M., Swensen, S. M., Prince, L. M., Kress, W. J., Nixon, K. C., & Farris, J. S. 2000. Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from 18S rDNA, rbcL, and atpB sequences. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 133: 381-461.
Weigend, M. 2005. Floral morphology and Pollination in Vivianiaceae (Geraniales). Plant Systematics and Evolution 253: 125-131.
Weigend, M. 2006. Vivianiaceae. In: Kubitzki, K.: The Families and Genera of the Plants IX: 213-220. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.
Francoaceae A.Juss. appears in other Kew resources:
First published in Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 25: 9. 1832 [Jan 1832] (1832)
Accepted by
- APG IV (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/boj.12385
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Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Flora of West Tropical Africa
Flora of West Tropical Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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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