Family Wellstediaceae

Wellstediaceae (Pilger) Novak

~ Boraginaceae

Habit and leaf form. Low shrubs (‘shrublets’), or herbs; non-laticiferous and without coloured juice; without essential oils. Perennial. Leaves alternate (adpressed, grey-strigose); non-sheathing; simple. Lamina entire. Leaves exstipulate. Lamina margins entire.

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

Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary and aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes. Inflorescences often in the form of dense, subscorpioid cymes. Flowers small; regular; 4 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk absent.

Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 8; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 4; gamosepalous; regular; (sub-) imbricate, or open in bud. Corolla 4; 1 whorled; gamopetalous; more or less imbricate; brick red.

Androecium 4. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); all equal; free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 4; isomerous with the perianth; shortly filantherous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; colporate (colporoidate).

Gynoecium 2 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 2 locular (compressed). Gynoecium median; stylate. Styles 1; at least partially joined; apical. Stigmas 2. Placentation axile, or apical (?). Ovules 1 per locule; pendulous; anatropous.

Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules loculicidal (compressed, broadly obcordate). Fruit 1–2 seeded. Seeds non-endospermic.

Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Southwest Africa, Somalia, Socotra.

Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Tenuinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Solaniflorae; Boraginales. Cronquist’s Subclass Asteridae; Lamiales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Asteranae; lamiid; Order unassigned to Order (as a synonym of Boraginaceae).

Species 2. Genera 1; only genus, Wellstedia.

Description very incomplete.