| | Family guide for fruits and seeds |
Synonyms: Dendrophthoaceae Tiegh.; Elytranthaceae Tiegh.; Gaiadendraceae Tiegh. ex Nakai; Lepidariaceae Tiegh., nom. inval.; Nuytsiaceae Tiegh.; Psittacanthaceae Nakai; Treubaniaceae Tiegh., nom. inval.; Treubellaceae Tiegh., nom. illeg.
Common name: Showy-mistletoe Family.
Number of genera 74. Number of species 940.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; berry, or drupe; berry indehiscent; berry without central placental mass; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1(–3)-seeded; 3–4-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; indehiscent. Epicarp durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present, or absent; viscous (Barlow (1964) noted that viscous layer was outside vascular bundles. Contrast this with Viscaceae); composed of 1 unified layer; with lactiform cavity system, or without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present, or absent; not separating from exocarp; thin (U for "drupe"); not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; 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 embedded in viscid endocarp tissue; larger than minute; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without apparent food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa absent; with embryo surrounded and capped at one end with viscid tissue. Endosperm copious; soft (succulent); smooth; with starch; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; several to 1 per seed; 0.3–1.25 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric, or axile and excentric, or peripheral, or lateral; linear; bent, or C-shaped; parallel to seed length (assumed); surrounding endosperm, or lying along one side of endosperm; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons, or acotyledonous. Cotyledons 2, or 3 (to 6); moderately developed (assumed); 0–0.5 times length of embryo; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate, or adhering, or connate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle undeveloped, or vestigial, or small; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Pantropical and pansubtropical. New World, Old World. Middle America, South America, Africa, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania (esp. Southern Hemisphere).
Notes
Read Edouard & Raynal-Roques (1989). Goldberg: "samaroid" and Cronquist "dry" but not covered in Spjut.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Actinanthella Balle -- Aetanthus (Eichler) Engl. -- Agelanthus Tiegh. -- Alepis Tiegh. -- Amyema Tiegh. -- Amylotheca Tiegh. -- Atkinsonia F. Muell. -- Bakerella Tiegh. -- Baratranthus (Korth.) Miq. -- Benthamina Tiegh. -- Berhautia Balle -- Cecarria Barlow -- Cladocolea Tiegh. -- Cyne Danser -- Dactyliophora Tiegh. -- Decaisnina Tiegh. -- Dendropemon (Blume) Rchb. -- Dendrophthoe Mart. -- Desmaria Tiegh. -- Diplatia Tiegh. -- Distrianthes Danser -- Elytranthe (Blume) Blume -- Emelianthe Danser -- Englerina Tiegh. -- Erianthemum Tiegh. -- Gaiadendron G. Don -- Globimetula Tiegh. -- Helicanthes Danser -- Helixanthera Lour. -- Ileostylus Tiegh. -- Ixocactus Rizzini -- Kingella Tiegh. -- Lampas Danser -- Lepeostegeres Blume -- Lepidaria Tiegh. -- Ligaria Tiegh. -- Loranthus Jacq., nom. cons. -- Loxanthera (Blume) Blume -- Lysiana Tiegh. -- Macrosolen (Blume) Rchb. -- Moquiniella Balle -- Muellerina Tiegh. -- Notanthera (DC.) G. Don -- Nuytsia R. Br. ex G. Don -- Oliverella Tiegh. -- Oncella Tiegh. -- Oncocalyx Tiegh. -- Oryctanthus (Griseb.) Eichler -- Oryctina Tiegh. -- Panamanthus Kuijt -- Papuanthes Danser -- Pedistylis Wiens -- Peraxilla Tiegh. -- Phragmanthera Tiegh. -- Phthirusa Mart., nom. cons. prop. -- Plicosepalus Tiegh. -- Psittacanthus Mart. -- Scurrula L. -- Septulina Tiegh. -- Socratina Balle -- Sogerianthe Danser -- Spragueanella Balle -- Struthanthus Mart., nom. cons. -- Tapinanthus (Blume) Rchb., nom. cons. -- Taxillus Tiegh. -- Tetradyas Danser -- Thaumasianthes Danser -- Tolypanthus (Blume) Rchb. -- Trilepidea Tiegh. -- Tripodanthus (Eichler) Tiegh. -- Tristerix Mart. -- Trithecanthera Tiegh. -- Tupeia Cham. & Schltdl. -- Vanwykia Wiens
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 689. Edouard, J.-A. & A. Raynal-Roques. 1989. Le fruit des quis (Loranthaceae et Viscaceae): utilité por la taxonomie et mode des dissémination par les oiseaux. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia 11:307–314; Barlow, B.A. 1964. Classification of the Loranthaceae and Viscaceae. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 89:268–272.
General references
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, 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, 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, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and no seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Engler & Prantl. Embryo illustration(s): Engler & Prantl, LeMaout & Decaisne, Martin, Edouard & Raynal-Roques (1989).
• Fruit. 1 of 14. Elytranthe flavida (Hook. F.) Engl.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 14. Elytranthe flavida (Hook. F.) Engl.: seed. • Fruit. 3 of 14. Gaiadendron punctatum (Ruiz & Pav.) G. Don: fruit. • Seed. 4 of 14. Gaiadendron punctatum (Ruiz & Pav.) G. Don: seed. • Fruit. 5 of 14. Lepeostegeres beccarii (King) Gamble: fruit with seeds. • Fruit. 6 of 14. Amyema pendulum (Sieb. ex Spreng.) Tiegh.: fruit. • Seed. 7 of 14. Amyema pendulum (Sieb. ex Spreng.) Tiegh.: seed. • Fruit. 8 of 14. Oryctanthus alveolatus (Kunth) Kuijt: fruiting head. • Seed. 9 of 14. Oryctanthus alveolatus (Kunth) Kuijt: seeds. • Fruit. 10 of 14. Phthirusa ovata (DC.) Eichl.: fruit. • Seed. 11 of 14. Phthirusa ovata (DC.) Eichl.: seed with sticky layer from fruit wall and seed without sticky layer from fruit wall. • Fruit. 12 of 14. Scurrula ferruginea (Roxb. ex Jack) Danser: fruits. • Fruit. 13 of 14. Nuytsia floribunda (Labill.) R. Br.: fruits. • Embryo. 14 of 14. Phthirusa nitens (Mart.) Eichler: 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’.
