Family Barclayaceae

Barclayaceae (Endl.) Li

~ Nymphaeaceae

Habit and leaf form. Stemless herbs; laticiferous. Rhizomatous (the rhizomes villous). Hydrophytic; rooted. Leaves (blades) floating (on their long petioles). Leaves alternate; membranous; long petiolate; simple. Lamina entire; lanceolate to orbicular (sometimes violet beneath); cross-venulate; cordate. Leaves exstipulate. Lamina margins entire.

General anatomy. Plants with laticifers (articulated). The laticifers in leaves, in stems, in roots, in flowers, and in the fruits.

Leaf anatomy. Stomata anomocytic.

Vessels absent.

Stem anatomy. Primary vascular tissue in scattered bundles. Secondary thickening absent (the bundles closed, scattered). Xylem presumably with tracheids; without vessels.

Root anatomy. Root xylem without vessels.

Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary (long-pedunculate but often not reaching the surface of the water, at least sometimes cleistogamous); extra-axillary; ebracteate (under the interpretation of the ‘perianth’ adopted here); ebracteolate; regular; more or less cyclic; polycyclic. Free hypanthium present (if the ‘calyx’ as described here is interpreted as an involucre of bracts, so that the ‘corolla tube’ becomes a hypanthium), or absent (if interpreted otherwise).

Perianth as interpreted here, with distinct calyx and corolla; 8–60 (?—to ‘many’); 4–5 whorled. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; polysepalous (borne beneath the ovary, the oblong sepals long-mucronate); regular. Corolla 12–50 (to ‘many’); lobes more or less distinctly 3–4 whorled (on the tube); gamopetalous; regular; persistent.

Androecium 30–60 (‘many’). Androecial members maturing centripetally; adnate (to the corolla tube); free of one another; (4–)5(–6) whorled (each series with about 10 members). Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes about (15–)20 (constituting the upper (outer) two series); external to the fertile stamens. Stamens about (20–)30; filantherous (with short filaments). Anthers basifixed; non-versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; bilocular; tetrasporangiate. Pollen grains nonaperturate (with a reduced exine).

Gynoecium 8–14 carpelled (not immersed in the torus). The pistil 8–14 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; inferior (in that the corolla tube arises from around the top of the ovary). Ovary 8–14 locular. Gynoecium very shortly stylate. Styles 1; apical. Stigmas 1; forming an obscurely radiate disk with a central, conical projection. Placentation laminar, the ovules scattered over the partitions. Ovules 30–50 per locule (‘rather numerous’); over the carpel surface; non-arillate; orthotropous; bitegmic; crassinucellate. Endosperm formation cellular.

Fruit fleshy; indehiscent; a berry (globose, crowned by the persistent corolla, with sweet, rose coloured flesh); many seeded. Seeds endospermic. Perisperm present. Seeds densely, rather softly spinulose. Embryo well differentiated (minute). Cotyledons 2.

Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic.

Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Indomalayan. N = 17, 18.

Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Nymphaeiflorae; Nymphaeales. Cronquist’s Subclass Magnoliidae; Nymphaeales. APG (1998) oddment family (as a synonym of Nymphaeaceae). APG 3 (2009) Order: Nymphaeales.

Species 4. Genera 1; only genus Barclaya.

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