Family Cardiopterigaceae

Cardiopterigaceae Blume corr. Van Tiegh.

Alternatively Cardiopterideae (Cardiopteridaceae) Blume, Peripterygiaceae F.N. Williams

Including Leptaulaceae

Habit and leaf form. Scandent herbs; laticiferous. Climbing; stem twiners. Leaves alternate; spiral; membranous; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple. Lamina dissected, or entire; when dissected, palmatifid; palmately veined; cross-venulate; cordate. Leaves exstipulate; without a persistent basal meristem.

General anatomy. Plants with laticifers. The laticifers in leaves.

Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Vessel end-walls horizontal; simple.

Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite, or andromonoecious, or gynomonoecious, or androdioecious, or gynodioecious, or polygamomonoecious (? — hermaphrodite or ‘polygamous’).

Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes (more or less scorpioid). The ultimate inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences axillary; branched, more or less scorpioid cymes. Flowers ebracteate; ebracteolate; very small; regular; (4–)5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk absent.

Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; (8–)10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx (4–)5; 1 whorled; gamosepalous; regular; imbricate. Corolla (4–)5; 1 whorled; gamopetalous; imbricate; regular.

Androecium (4–)5. Androecial members adnate (epipetalous); free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens (4–)5; inserted midway down the corolla tube, or in the throat of the corolla tube; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; colporate (colporoidate).

Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; superior. Ovary unilocular; 1 locular. Styles 2; dissimilar, free. Stigmas 2. Placentation apical. Ovules in the single cavity 2; pendulous.

Fruit non-fleshy; indehiscent (flat); a samara (2-winged). Dispersal unit the fruit. Seeds endospermic. Embryo well differentiated (but tiny).

Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found.

Geography, cytology. Paleotropical and Australian. Temperate to sub-tropical. Southeast Asia and Australia, Leptaulus in tropical Africa and Madagascar.

Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Tenuinucelli (? — gamopetalous, with adnate androecium). Dahlgren’s Superorder Santaliflorae; Celastrales (?). Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Celastrales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Asteranae; campanulid; Order Aquifoliales.

Species 8 (including Leptaulus). Genera 2; Peripterygium (Cardiopteris, Leptaulus (only recently assigned here).

This description does not yet account for the recently included Leptaulus.