Onagraceae Temporal range: | |
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Chamaenerion latifolium | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Onagraceae Juss. [2] |
Type genus | |
Oenothera | |
Subfamilies | |
Synonyms | |
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The Onagraceae are a family of flowering plants known as the willowherb family or evening primrose family. They include about 650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees [4] in 17 genera. [5] The family is widespread, occurring on every continent from boreal to tropical regions.
The family includes a number of popular garden plants, including evening primroses ( Oenothera ) and fuchsias (Fuchsia). Some, particularly the willowherbs ( Epilobium ), are common weeds in gardens and rapidly colonize disturbed habitats in the wild. One such species is fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium).
The family is characterised by flowers with usually four sepals and petals; in some genera, such as Fuchsia, the sepals are as brightly coloured as the petals.
The seeds are generally very small. In some genera, such as Epilobium, they have tufts of hairs [6] and are dispersed on the wind. In others, such as Fuchsia, the seeds develop in juicy berries dispersed by animals. The leaves are commonly opposite or whorled, but are spirally arranged in some species; in most, they are simple and lanceolate in shape. The pollen grains in many genera are loosely held together by viscin threads. Most bees cannot collect it, and only bees with specialized morphologies can effectively pollinate the flowers; nearly all bee taxa that visit the flowers are oligoleges specialized on the family Onagraceae.
The family was named after the genus Onagra (now known as Oenothera ) in 1836 by John Lindley in the second edition of A Natural System of Botany.
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Several genera are synonymized in the classification presented above, in particular Calylophus and Gaura , which have both been absorbed into Oenothera but appear often in the literature as belonging to the previous genera.
The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia L.
Oenothera is a genus of about 145 species of herbaceous flowering plants native to the Americas. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae. Common names include evening primrose, suncups, and sundrops. They are not closely related to the true primroses.
Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older classifications, Plantaginaceae was the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have demonstrated that this taxon should be included within Lamiales.
The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera.
The Loganiaceae are a family of flowering plants classified in order Gentianales. The family includes up to 13 genera, distributed around the world's tropics. There are not any great morphological characteristics to distinguish these taxa from others in the order Gentianales.
Epilobium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae, containing about 197 species. The genus has a worldwide distribution. It is most prevalent in the subarctic, temperate and subantarctic regions, whereas in the subtropics and tropics Epilobium species are restricted to the cool montane biomes, such as the New Guinea Highlands.
Oenothera biennis, the common evening-primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the family Onagraceae, native to eastern and central North America, from Newfoundland west to Alberta, southeast to Florida, and southwest to Texas, and widely naturalized elsewhere in temperate and subtropical regions. Evening primrose oil is produced from the plant.
The plant tribe Phaseoleae is one of the subdivisions of the legume subfamily Faboideae, in the unranked NPAAA clade. This group includes many of the beans cultivated for human and animal food, most importantly from the genera Glycine, Phaseolus, and Vigna.
Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a distinctive fruit type called an accessory fruit or anthocarp, and many genera have extremely large pollen grains.
Goodeniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus Scaevola, which is pantropical. Its species are found across most of Australia, being especially common in arid and semi-arid climates.
Apocynoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Apocynaceae. It contains about 78 genera with roughly 860 species. Several genera are of pharmacological interest - notably those - such as Strophanthus - which have furnished highly effective arrow poisons, due to their cardiac glycoside content. The subfamily includes many species with flowers of considerable ornamental value, the best-known of which is Nerium oleander, the familiar Oleander. It also contains the remarkable pachycaul genera Adenium and Pachypodium.
Oenothera elata is a species of Oenothera known by the common name Hooker's evening primrose or tall evening primrose. Subspecies include hookeri, hirsutissima, longisima, jamesii, villosa and elata. It is native to much of western and central North America. The plants are quite tall, especially the hookeri subspecies, native to California, which can reach about 1.8 meters height. The plants are found along roadsides, in moist meadows, or in woodland, from sea level up to 9,000 ft (2,700 m) in elevation.
Chamaenerion is a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae. It has sometimes been included in the genus Epilobium. Members of the genus may be called willowherbs, or fireweeds, based on a common name used for C. angustifolium. They are upright herbaceous perennials, growing from a woody base or from rhizomes, with racemes of usually purple to pink flowers. All species are found in the northern hemisphere. Most occur in moist habitats; C. angustifolium is the exception, favouring disturbed ground.
Helicteroideae is a subfamily of the family Malvaceae. Some taxonomists place genera in Helicteroideae in distinct families Durionaceae and Helicteraceae, while others recognizes the tribes Durioneae and Helictereae.
Oenothera perennis is a species of flowering plant in the family Onagraceae and is native to the eastern United States and Canada. Its common names include little evening primrose, small sundrops, and small evening primrose. Its native habitats include shaly slopes, moist or dry fields, pastures and roadsides. Oenothera perennis is a perennial herb. It has yellow flowers that open during the day and close at night. Each flower has four petals that are notched at the tip with veins radiating from the base.
Montiaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from small herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution.
Physaleae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae.
Byttnerioideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Malvaceae.