Interesting Facts
Description
Family Bixaceae
Shrubs
or small trees
. Young branches and leaves with peltate scales
. Leaves alternate; stipules small, sheathing
bud, fugacious
; petiole
swollen at base
and apex; leaf blade
simple
, palmately veined. Inflorescence a terminal
panicle. Flowers bisexual
, actinomorphic
. Sepals 5, free
, imbricate, with basal, abaxial
glands
, fugacious. Petals 5, imbricate, large and conspicuous
. Stamens many, free or slightly united
at base; anthers
oblong
, with 2 inverted
, U-shaped thecae, dehiscing by short, apical slits on bend
. Ovary superior, 1-loculed; ovules many on 2 parietal
placentas; style slender; stigmas 2-lobed. Fruit a capsule, loculicidally 2-valved, usually spiny
. Seeds many; testa red, slightly fleshy
; embryo large; cotyledons broad, incurved
at apex; endosperm copious
.
One genus and five species: native
to tropical
America; one species widely cultivated in tropical regions
, including China.
Molecular data suggest that the genus Diegodendron Capuron, endemic to Madagascar, is related to Bixa and could be included
within the Bixaceae.[1]
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 331 meters (0 to 1,086 feet).[2]
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:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Malvanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Malvales
()
- Dumortier, 1829
- Suborder:
Bixineae
()
- Family:
Bixaceae
()
- Kunth, 1822, nom. cons.
- Lipstick Tree Family
- Genus:
Cochlospermum
()
- Kunth, in Humboldt et al., 1822, nom. cons.
- Specific epithet:
fraseri
- Planch.
- Botanical name: - Cochlospermum fraseri Planch.
- Specific epithet:
fraseri
- Planch.
- Genus:
Cochlospermum
(
- Family:
Bixaceae
(
- Suborder:
Bixineae
(
- Order:
Malvales
(
- Superorder:
Malvanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author
: Poppend. Publication
: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 101(2):
240 (1980)
Basionym
author: (F.v.Mueller)
Publishing author: Planch. Publication: Hooker's London Journal of
Botany
6 1847
Similar Species
Members of the genus Cochlospermum
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 4 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. gillivraei (Kapok Tree) · C. religiosum (Silk-Cotton Tree) · C. tetraporum (Palo Papel) · C. vitifolium (Buttercup Tree)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Zhang Pengyun & Zhang Yaojia. 1990. Bixaceae. In: Li Hsiwen, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 50(2): 180.
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 February 28, 2008:
- Australian National Herbarium (CANB)
- National Herbarium of New South Wales: NSW herbarium collection
- National Herbarium of New South Wales: Plants of Papua New Guinea
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5830434
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:84829-3
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 111523-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1232517
Footnotes
- Qiner Yang & Michael G. Gilbert "Bixaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 71. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Mean = 132.480 meters (434.646 feet), Standard Deviation = 107.490 based on 42 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
