Family Haemodoraceae
Haemodoraceae R. Br.Including Conostylidaceae, Xiphidiaceae Dum. Habit and leaf form. Herbs; with coloured juice, or non-laticiferous and without coloured juice. Plants autotrophic. Perennial; with a basal aggregation of leaves (leaves all radical); rhizomatous, or tuberous, or bulbaceous. Rhizome and root tissues brightly red-pigmented (often, and pigment present throughout the plant in Haemodorum), or not red-pigmented. Mesophytic, or xerophytic. Leaves medium-sized to large; alternate; distichous; leathery; sessile; sheathing. Leaf sheaths with free margins. Leaves edgewise to the stem (usually), or with ‘normal’ orientation; simple; epulvinate. Lamina entire; linear (or ensiform); parallel-veined. Lamina margins entire. Leaves with a persistent basal meristem, and basipetal development. Vernation conduplicate. General anatomy. Accumulated starch other than exclusively ‘pteridophyte type’. Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; paracytic. Guard-cells not ‘grass type’. Lamina isobilateral. The mesophyll containing mucilage cells (with raphides); usually containing calcium oxalate crystals. The mesophyll crystals usually raphides. Minor leaf veins without phloem transfer cells (Anigozanthos, Wachendorfia). Vessels present, or absent; end-walls scalariform. Stem anatomy. Primary vascular tissue comprising a ring of bundles, or in two or more rings of bundles, or in scattered bundles. Secondary thickening absent. Xylem with vessels, or without vessels. Vessel end-walls scalariform. Root anatomy. Root xylem with vessels; vessel end-walls scalariform, or scalariform and simple (mainly simple). Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite. Floral nectaries present. Nectar secretion from the gynoecium (via septal nectaries). Pollination entomophilous, or ornithophilous, or by unusual means (occasionally by small mammals). Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’ (usually), or solitary; in cymes, in panicles, and in racemes. The ultimate inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences scapiflorous (usually, the inflorescence and flowers often woolly-hairy); terminal; panicles, thyrses with cymose lateral branches, or racemes. Flowers regular to very irregular; when irregular, zygomorphic; 3 merous; cyclic; tricyclic, or tetracyclic. Perigone tube present (straight or curved), or absent. Perianth of ‘tepals’; 6; free, or joined; 2 whorled (when free, Haemodoroideae), or 1 whorled (when tubular, Conostyloideae); isomerous; petaloid; similar in the two whorls; green, or white, or cream, or yellow, or orange, or red, or violet, or black. Androecium 3, or 6. Androecial members adnate (to the perianth lobes, or to the inner perianth segments); all equal; free of one another; 1 whorled, or 2 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 3, or 6; isomerous with the perianth, or diplostemonous; alterniperianthial, or oppositiperianthial (in three-stamened Haemodoroideae, where the outer whorl is missing). Filaments appendiculate (e.g. Tribonanthes), or not appendiculate. Anthers dorsifixed, or basifixed; versatile, or non-versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; unappendaged, or appendaged (apically, from the connective). Microsporogenesis successive. The initial microspore tetrads tetrahedral, or isobilateral. Tapetum amoeboid, or glandular. Pollen grains aperturate; 1 aperturate, or 2–4(–8) aperturate (Conostyloideae); sulcate, or foraminate; 2-celled. Gynoecium 3 carpelled. The pistil 3 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior to inferior. Ovary 3 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1, or 3; when 3, partially joined; attenuate from the ovary, or from a depression at the top of the ovary; apical; much longer than the ovary (usually filiform). Stigmas 1, or 3; capitate; wet type, or dry type; papillate; Group II type, or Group III type. Placentation axile. Ovules 1–50 per locule (i.e. to ‘many’); non-arillate; orthotropous to hemianatropous; bitegmic; crassinucellate. Outer integument contributing to the micropyle, or not contributing to the micropyle. Embryo-sac development Polygonum-type. Polar nuclei fusing prior to fertilization. Endosperm formation helobial. Embryogeny asterad. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent, or indehiscent; a capsule, or a nut (Phlebocaryeae). Capsules loculicidal, or valvular (Macropidia). Seeds copiously endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds winged (Haemodorum), or wingless. Seeds with starch. Cotyledons 1. Testa without phytomelan. Seedling. Hypocotyl internode present (short to long). Seedling collar not conspicuous. Cotyledon hyperphyll elongated, or compact (e.g. Haemodorum); assimilatory (Blancoa), or non-assimilatory (Haemodorum); when elongated, more or less circular in t.s. (e.g. Blancoa). Coleoptile absent (but sometimes with a median cotyledonary sheath lobe). First leaf ensiform. Primary root ephemeral. Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Alkaloids present, or absent (2 species investigated). Proanthocyanidins present (2 genera); cyanidin, or cyanidin and delphinidin (Anigozanthos). Flavonols present; kaempferol and quercetin (Haemodorum), or kaempferol (Anigozanthos). Ellagic acid absent. Saponins/sapogenins absent. Geography, cytology. Temperate to tropical. South Africa, Australia, New Guinea, Southeast U.S.A., Central America, tropical South America. X = 4–8, or 15 (or more). Taxonomy. Subclass Monocotyledonae. Dahlgren et al. Superorder Bromeliiflorae; Haemodorales. APG 3 core angiosperms; Superorder Lilianae; commelinid Monocot; Order Commelinales. Species 75. Genera 14; Anigozanthos, Barberetta, Blancoa, Conostylis, Dilatris, Haemodorum, Lachnanthes, Macropidia, Phlebocarya, Pyrrhorhiza, Schiekia, Tribonanthes, Xiphidium, Wachendorfia. Illustrations. |
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