Family Barbeuiaceae

Barbeuiaceae (Baill.) Nak.

~ Phytolaccaceae

Habit and leaf form. Large, woody lianas (the whole plants blackening on drying). Climbing. Leaves alternate; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple; pulvinate (articulated at the base). Lamina entire; ovate; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves exstipulate. Lamina margins entire.

Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; anomocytic.

Stem anatomy. Nodes unilacunar (with 1 trace). Internal phloem absent. Secondary thickening anomalous (in the form of successive rings of vascular bundles in the inner pericycle); via concentric cambia. ‘Included’ phloem present. Xylem with vessels.

Reproductive type, pollination. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in racemes. The ultimate inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences axillary; short, rigid racemes, the pedicels long. Flowers bracteate (the bracts subulate); regular; cyclic; pentacyclic, or polycyclic. Free hypanthium absent.

Perianth sepaline; 5; 1 whorled. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; polysepalous (the sepals orbicular, concave); regular; persistent (spreading in fruit); non-accrescent; imbricate.

Androecium 30–100 (‘many’). Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another; 2–4 whorled (?—in several series). Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 30–100 (‘many’); polystemonous; filantherous (the filaments short, inserted on an annular disk). Anthers sagittate; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate, or 4 aperturate, or 6 aperturate; colporate, or foraminate, or rugate.

Gynoecium 2 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 2 locular; sessile. Gynoecium non-stylate to stylate. Styles if detectable, 1; apical. Stigmas 2 (linear oblong, thick, erect-spreading, very shortly connate at the base). Placentation basal. Ovules 1 per locule; funicled; ascending; arillate; campylotropous.

Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent (?); a capsule (hard, woody, bilocular); 1–2 seeded (the seeds partially enclosed by fleshy arils). Seeds endospermic. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2 (oblong, unequal). Embryo curved.

Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Madagascar.

Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Caryophylliflorae; Caryophyllales. Cronquist’s Subclass Caryophyllidae; Caryophyllales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; neither Rosid nor Asterid. APG 3 (2009) Order: Caryophyllales.

Species 1. Genera 1; only genus, Barbeuia.

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