Overview
Interesting Facts
Description
Family Euphorbiaceae
The Euphorbiaceae are mostly monoecious herbs, shrubs , and trees , sometimes succulent and cactus-like, comprising one of the largest families of plants with about 300 genera and 7,500 species that are further characterized by the frequent occurrence of milky sap . The leaves are mostly alternate but may be opposite or whorled and they are simple , or compound , or sometimes highly reduced. Stipules are generally present but may be reduced to hairs , glands or spines. The flowers are unisexual and usually actinomorphic . They may be highly reduced by suppression of parts, in the extreme form consisting of a naked stamen as a male flower and a naked pistil as a female flower. A specialized type of miniature inflorescence called a cyathium occurs in about 1,500 species comprising the genera Euphorbia and Chamaesyce. The cyathium consists of a single naked pistillate flower surrounded by cymes of naked staminate flowers, each consisting of a single stamen. These flowers are all enclosed in a cup-like involucre that typically is provided with peripheral nectaries and petaloid appendages such that the whole aggregation closely resembles a single flower. In other members of the family the flowers and inflorescences are more ordinary in appearance , with male and female flowers typically bearing a 5-merous calyx and corolla of distinct segments, although the corolla is sometimes absent. In these forms the androecium most commonly consists of 5, 10 or sometimes numerous distinct or monadelphous stamens. The gynoecium of female flowers consists of a single compound pistil of typically 3 carpels, an equal number of styles or primary style branches, and a superior ovary with typically 3 locules, each bearing 1 or 2 collateral , axile-apical pendulous ovules. The fruit is usually a capsular schizocarp. -- Gerald Carr.
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,479 meters (0 to 4,852 feet).[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Euphorbianae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order:
Malpighiales
()
- C. Martius, 1835
- Family:
Euphorbiaceae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Spurge Family
- Subfamily:
Acalyphoideae
()
- Tribe:
Alchorneeae
()
- Genus:
Alchornea
()
- O. Swartz, 1788
- Specific epithet:
cordifolia
- (Schumach.) M?ll.Arg.
- Botanical name: - Alchornea cordifolia (Schumach.) Mll.Arg. (Schumach.) M?ll.Arg.
- Specific epithet:
cordifolia
- (Schumach.) M?ll.Arg.
- Genus:
Alchornea
(
- Tribe:
Alchorneeae
(
- Subfamily:
Acalyphoideae
(
- Family:
Euphorbiaceae
(
- Order:
Malpighiales
(
- Superorder:
Euphorbianae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Synonyms
Alchornea cordata Benth. • Schousboea cordifolia Schumach. & Thonn.
Notes
Basionym
: Euphorbiaceae Schousboea cordifolia Schumach.
Basionym author: (Schumach.)
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 11-Nov-2003
Similar Species
Members of the genus Alchornea
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
More Info
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Further Reading
- Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: The Museum, 1951-1992. url p. 352, p. 285.
- Catalogue of the African plants collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853-61. .. London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1896-1901. url p. 979, p. 979.
- Characteristics, classification, & adaptation of soils in selected areas in Sierra Leone, West Africa / R. T. Odell. .. [et al.]. Urbana: College of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1974. url p. 11.
- Compositae newsletter. Columbus, Ohio: Dept. of Botany, Ohio State University, 1975- url p. 103.
- Great Basin naturalist memoirs. 1992 [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. url p. 1247.
- Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco: The Academy, 1868- url p. 48.
- Oliver, D. Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver. .. assisted by other botanists. 6 1909-1913 London: L. Reeve and co., 1868-1999. url p. 915.
- Proceedings and transactions of the South London Entomological & Natural History Society. London: The Society. url p. 71, p. 74, p. 77, p. 78.
- The forest officers' handbook of the Gold Coast, Ashanti and the Northern Terriotries. London [etc.]Printed by Waterlow & sons limited[1922?] url , , .
- West African forests and forestry / London: T.F. Unwin, ltd., [1920] url , .
- West African forests and forestry, by A. Harold Unwin. .. with 110 illustrations by the author. London, T. F. Unwin, ltd.[1920] url p. 434, p. 502.
- Wissenschaftliche ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Africa-Expedition, 1907-1908: unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, herzogs zu Mecklenburg. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1910- url p. 455, p. 652, p. 694.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 01, 2007:
- GBIF-Spain, Real Jardin Botanico
- , Vascular Plant Herbarium
- Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
- Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5821394
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-5722
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14255395
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:338380-1
- GRIN Nomen Number: 2177
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 338380-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1035820
Footnotes
- Mean = 555.500 meters (1,822.507 feet), Standard Deviation = 405.100 based on 48 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
