Lythraceae Temporal range: | |
---|---|
Lythrum salicaria | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Lythraceae J.St.-Hil. [2] |
Genera | |
31 (27); see text. |
Lythraceae is a family of flowering plants, including 32 genera, with about 620 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees. [3] The larger genera include Cuphea (275 spp.), Lagerstroemia (56), Nesaea (50), Rotala (45), and Lythrum (35). [4] It also includes the members of the former families of the pomegranate ( Punica granatum, formerly in Punicaceae) and of the water caltrop ( Trapa natans, formerly in Trapaceae). Lythraceae has a worldwide distribution, with most species in the tropics, but ranging into temperate climate regions as well.
The family is named after the type genus, Lythrum, the loosestrifes (e.g. Lythrum salicaria purple loosestrife) and also includes henna (Lawsonia inermis). It now includes the pomegranate, formerly classed in a separate family Punicaceae. The family also includes the widely cultivated crape myrtle trees. Botanically, the leaves are usually in pairs (opposite), and the flower petals emerge from the rim of the calyx tube. The petals often appear crumpled.
Lythraceae species are most often herbs, and less often shrubs or trees; the shrubs and trees often have flaky bark. [5] Traits shared by species within the Lythraceae that distinguish them from belonging to other plant families are the petals being crumpled in the bud and the many-layered outer integument of the seed. [4]
The leaves generally have an opposite arrangement, but sometimes are whorled or alternate. They are simple with smooth margins and pinnate venation. [4] Stipules are typically reduced, appearing as a row of minute hairs, [4] or absent. [5]
The flowers are bisexual, radially or occasionally bilaterally symmetric, with a well-developed hypanthium. The flowers are most commonly quadimerous but can be heximerous, with four to eight sepals and petals. The sepals may be distinct, partially fused to form a tube, or touching without overlapping. The petals are crumpled in the bud and wrinkled at maturity, and are typically distinct and overlapping; they are occasionally absent. [4] Usually, twice as many stamens as petals are seen, arranged in two whorls, and the stamens are often unequal in length. Occasionally, the stamens are reduced to one whorl, or are more numerous with multiple whorls. [3] The ovary is typically superior, infrequently semi-inferior, [6] or rarely inferior. The two to many carpels can be fused together (syncarpous), with two to numerous ovules in each locule, with axile placentation of the ovules. [4]
Heterostyly – the presence of two (distylous) or three (tristylous) distinct flower morphs within a species differing in the lengths of the pistil and stamens – is common within the Lythraceae. [4]
The fruit is usually a dry, dehiscent capsule, occasionally a berry. The seeds are usually flattened and/or winged, with a multilayered outer integument. [4] Epidermal hairs that expand and become mucilaginous when wet are found in about half the genera. [3]
The Lythraceae are widely distributed, but with most species tropical and some temperate. [3] [4] They are absent from the Sahara and most arid regions of Australia. [3] Many species occur in aquatic or semi-aquatic habitats ( Decodon , Didiplis , Rotala , Sonneratia , Trapa ). [4] [5] The oldest fossils of the family are pollen from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Wyoming in western North America, around 82 to 81 million years old. [7]
Edible crops include the pomegranate (Punica granatum) and the water caltrop (Trapa bicornis or T. natans). The pomegranate is cultivated for the fleshy arils surrounding the seeds, and the water caltrop for its seeds. Henna (Lawsonia inermis) is cultivated for the dye of the same name, derived from its leaves.
Ornamentals are grown from a number of genera, including Cuphea , Lagerstroemia (crape myrtles), and Lythrum (loosestrifes). [4]
Purple loosestrife ( Lythrum salicaria ) is an invasive exotic weed of wetlands throughout Canada and the United States. [8]
Within the order Myrtales, the family Lythraceae is most closely related to the Onagraceae, with the Combretaceae sister to both families. [4] [6] Molecular phylogeny work has led to the inclusion of the formerly recognized families Duabangaceae, Punicaceae, Sonneratiaceae, and Trapaceae. [6]
Lythraceae has 31 genera in five subfamilies:
The Myrtales are an order of flowering plants placed as a sister to the eurosids II clade as of the publishing of the Eucalyptus grandis genome in June 2014.
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms. Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom.
Punica is a small genus of fruit-bearing deciduous shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Lythraceae. The better known species is the pomegranate. The other species, the Socotra pomegranate, is endemic to the island of Socotra. It differs in having pink flowers and smaller, less sweet fruit.
Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus Viola, the violets and pansies.
Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crape myrtle, is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia, and other parts of Oceania, cultivated in warmer climates around the world. It is a member of the family Lythraceae, which is also known as the loosestrife family. The genus is named after Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, a director of the Swedish East India Company, who supplied Carl Linnaeus with plants he collected. These flowering trees are beautifully colored and are often planted both privately and commercially as ornamentals.
The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee.
Lythrum salicaria or purple loosestrife is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae. Other names include spiked loosestrife and purple Lythrum. This herbaceous perennial is native to Europe and Asia, and possibly Australia.
Hypericaceae is a plant family in the order Malpighiales, comprising six to nine genera and up to 700 species, and commonly known as the St. John's wort family. Members are found throughout the world apart from extremely cold or dry habitats. Hypericum and Triadenum occur in temperate regions but other genera are mostly tropical.
Lythrum is a genus of 38 species of flowering plants native to the temperate world. Commonly known as loosestrife, they are among 32 genera of the family Lythraceae.
Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 known species in 41 genera. Well known genera include Commelina (dayflowers) and Tradescantia (spiderworts). The family is diverse in both the Old World tropics and the New World tropics, with some genera present in both. The variation in morphology, especially that of the flower and inflorescence, is considered to be exceptionally high amongst the angiosperms.
Loosestrife is a common name for plants within two different genera:
Parnassiaceae Gray were a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Celastrales. The family is not recognized in the APG III system of plant classification. When that system was published in 2009, Parnassiaceae were treated as subfamily Parnassioideae of an expanded family Celastraceae.
Cuphea viscosissima, also known as blue waxweed, clammy cuphea or (ambiguously) as "tarweed", is an herbaceous plant in the loosestrife family. It native to the eastern United States, where it is most often found in open, rocky calcareous areas. It is the most common and widespread Cuphea in the U.S.
Hylobius transversovittatus is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is native to the Old World where both adults and larvae feed on purple loosestrife. This plant is regarded as an invasive species in North America and the weevil has been introduced into both the United States and Canada in an effort to control the plant.
Decodon verticillatus, the sole living species in the genus Decodon, is a flowering plant in the family Lythraceae. It is commonly known as waterwillow or swamp loosestrife. It is native to wetlands in the eastern half of the United States and Canada.
Lythrum alatum, commonly known as winged loosestrife, winged lythrum or angled purple-loosestrife, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It is endemic to wetland areas in central and eastern United States and Ontario.
Lythrum virgatum, the wand loosestrife, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae, native to wet areas of the Eurasian steppes, and introduced to France, Germany, and the United States. The unimproved species and a number of cultivars are available from commercial suppliers. It is considered an invasive species in some jurisdictions.
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