Family PLUMBAGINACEAE
Synonyms: Aegialitidaceae APNI*
Limoniaceae APNI*
Description: Herbs, shrubs or climbers, glabrous or pubescent.
Leaves alternate, simple, entire or variously lobed.
Inflorescence a raceme or spike, sometimes paniculate. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, 5-merous, often heterostylous. Calyx tubular, 5- or 10-ribbed, each rib usually ending in a small lobe; calyx often showy and ± petaloid, scarious or glandular-pubescent. Corolla tubular, lobed, often persistent. Stamens 5, free or fused to the corolla, opposite corolla lobes; anthers 2-locular, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior, 5-carpellate, 1-locular, ovule solitary; styles 5 or style 5-lobed.
Fruit partly or completely enclosed by the persistent calyx, [an achene] or a capsule, indehiscent or opening irregularly.
Distribution and occurrence: World: c. 19 genera, c. 800 species, cosmopolitan. Australia: 3 genera, 9 species, all States.
External links:
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (Family: Plumbaginaceae, Order: Caryophyllales)
Wikipedia The family includes a number of species, especially in the genus Limonium, that yield tannin and dyes, and some species are grown for their showy flowers. The Limoniaceae (c. 14 gen., c. 750 spp.) are sometimes recognized as a separate family.
Text by G. J. Harden
Taxon concept:
| | Key to the genera | |
| 1 | Basal rosette absent; stems leafy, leaves ovate; flowers more than 15 mm long; calyx cylindrical, glandular-pubescent | Plumbago |
| Basal rosette present or absent; stem leaves scale-like, triangular or stem-clasping; flowers less than 15 mm long; calyx spreading at the top, glabrous | Limonium |
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