Flagellariaceae

Taxonomy

Family name: Flagellariaceae Dumortier

Synonym(s): [none]

Common name(s): flagellaria family

*Number of genera/species: 1/4

List of genera records in GRIN-Global

Disseminule

fruit

Description

Fruit indehiscentindehiscent:
not opening on its own, as in a fruit
, drupedrupe:
(indehiscent drupe) a fleshy, indehiscent fruit with one more hard pits enclosing seeds; (dehiscent drupe) a fruit with a dry or fibrous to fleshy or leathery outer husk that early to tardily breaks apart (or opens), exposing one or more nutlike pits enclosing the seeds
, 4–6 mm long, globoseglobose:
3D shape—more or less spherical
to ovoidovoid:
3D shape—ovate
, tereteterete:
approximately circular in cross section; width and thickness approximately equal
in transectiontransection:
a cross section; representing a plane made by cutting across an organ at a right angle to its length
, usually one seeded. Pericarppericarp:
fruit wall or fruit coat
black, red (pink), or white, fleshyfleshy:
texture—fairly firm and dense, juicy or at least moist, and easily cut
or chartaceouschartaceous:
=papery, papyraceous
, smooth.

Seed globoseglobose:
3D shape—more or less spherical
, tereteterete:
approximately circular in cross section; width and thickness approximately equal
to compressedcompressed:
flattened; in grasses, used to denote compression (not necessarily flattened) either laterally or dorsiventrally
in transectiontransection:
a cross section; representing a plane made by cutting across an organ at a right angle to its length
, ellipsoidellipsoid:
3D shape—elliptic
hilum present. Seed coat shinyshiny:
uniformly reflecting a high proportion of incident light at all angles
or dulldull:
reflecting only a low proportion of incident light, with no apparent sheen
, crustaceouscrustaceous:
texture—thin, dry, indurate, and brittle
or membranousmembranous:
texture—extremely thin, pliable, and fairly tough
, wrinkledwrinkled:
surface relief—shallow, irregular folds and furrows covering the surface; appearing overall though crumpled and then spread out
.

Embryo rudimentaryrudimentary:
(of embryo) embryo is small and fills less than a quarter of the seed and can be variable in shapes, such as linear, spatulate, or oval
, minute, broad to lenticularlenticular:
3D shape—lens-shaped; biconvex
, straight, basalbasal:
at or pertaining to the point of attachment; (of embryo) embryo occupies one end of the seed
. Endospermendosperm:
nutritive starch- and oil-containing tissue present in many seeds
copious, mealymealy:
loose, dry, and disintegrating in finely granular pieces like meal or flour
.

Identification features

Fruit
Type	indehiscent indehiscent: not opening on its own, as in a fruit drupe
Size range	4–6 mm long
Shape(s)	globose, ovoid
Texture	fleshy, chartaceous
Surface relief	smooth
Color(s)	black, red, or white
Unique features	Small, fleshyfleshy: texture—fairly firm and dense, juicy or at least moist, and easily cut red, black or white drupesdrupes: (indehiscent drupe) a fleshy, indehiscent fruit with one more hard pits enclosing seeds; (dehiscent drupe) a fruit with a dry or fibrous to fleshy or leathery outer husk that early to tardily breaks apart (or opens), exposing one or more nutlike pits enclosing the seeds usually single seeded.
Seed
Shape(s)	globoseglobose: 3D shape—more or less spherical
Surface relief	wrinkledwrinkled: surface relief—shallow, irregular folds and furrows covering the surface; appearing overall though crumpled and then spread out
Unique features	Globose, wrinkledwrinkled: surface relief—shallow, irregular folds and furrows covering the surface; appearing overall though crumpled and then spread out seeds with rudimentaryrudimentary: (of embryo) embryo is small and fills less than a quarter of the seed and can be variable in shapes, such as linear, spatulate, or oval broad to lenticularlenticular: 3D shape—lens-shaped; biconvex embryos.
Other
Embryo	rudimentary, minute, broad to lenticularlenticular: 3D shape—lens-shaped; biconvex , straight, basal
Nutritive tissuenutritive tissue: tissue within the seeds that nourishes the developing embryo; such as endosperm, perisperm, or chalazosperm in angiosperms; megagametophyte in gymnosperms	endosperm endosperm: nutritive starch- and oil-containing tissue present in many seeds copious, mealy

Distribution

Paleotropics, Pacific Islands.

Distribution map courtesy of Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.

References

Baskin and Baskin 2021Baskin and Baskin 2021:
Baskin C and Baskin J. 2021. Relationship of the lateral embryo (in grasses) to other monocot embryos: A status up-grade. Seed Science Research 31 (3): 199-210. doi:10.1017/S0960258521000209; Dahlgren et al. 1985Dahlgren et al. 1985:
Dahlgren RMT, Clifford HT, and Yeo PF. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons: structure, evolution, and taxonomy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 520 pp.; Nooteboom et al. 2021; Flora of Australia 2021+Flora of Australia 2021+:
Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Accessed January-May 2021. URL: http://www.ausflora.org.au; Kirkbride et al. 2006Kirkbride et al. 2006:
Kirkbride JH, Jr, Gunn CR, and Dallwitz MJ. 2006. Family guide for fruits and seeds, vers. 1.0. Accessed September 2020ndash;January 2022. URL: https://nt.ars-grin.gov/seedsfruits/keys/frsdfam/index.cfm .; Kubitzki et al. 1990+Kubitzki et al. 1990+:
Kubitzki K et al., eds. 1990+. The families and genera of vascular plants. 7+ vols. Berlin etc.; Napper 1971aNapper 1971a:
Napper DM. 1971a. Flagellariaceae. In: Milne-Redhead E and Polhill RM, eds. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Vol 69. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London UK. 3 pp.; Stevenson and Loconte 1995Stevenson and Loconte 1995:
Stevenson DW and Loconte H. 1995. A cladistic analysis of monocot families. In: Rudall PJ, Cribb PJ, Cutler DF, and Humphries CJ, eds. Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.; Thiele and Adams 2014Thiele and Adams 2014:
Thiele KR and Adams LG. 2014. Families of Flowering Plants of Australia. Accessed January-December 2021. URL: https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/FFPA/key/FFPA/Media/Html/index.htm; Zhengyi et al. 2004+Zhengyi et al. 2004+:
Zhengyi W, Raven PH, and Deyuan H. 2004+. Flora of China [online]. 25 vols. Science Press, Beijing China amp; Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis USA. Accessed January-December 2021. http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/

*The number of genera and species is based on Christenhusz and Byng 2016Christenhusz and Byng 2016:
Christenhusz MJM and Byng JW. 2016. The number of known plant species in the world and its annual increase. Phytotaxa 261 (3): 201ndash;217. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1, which may differ from the number of genera in GRIN-Global.