Interesting Facts
Description
Family Thymelaeaceae
Shrubs
or small trees
, rarely herbs, evergreen
or deciduous. Bark
tough and fibrous
. Leaves opposite or alternate, rarely some ternate
, estipulate; blade
simple
, entire, pinnately veined, articulate
at base
. Plants
mostly bisexual
, sometimes dioecious. Inflorescences terminal
or subterminal
, less often axillary
, sometimes on brachyblasts
, sessile or pedunculate
, basically racemose, sometimes capitate, spicate
, umbelliform, or fascicled. Flowers usually actinomorphic
, bisexual or unisexual
(plants then mostly dioecious), bracteate
(sometimes bracts forming an involucre) or ebracteate
, sessile or pedicellate
. Calyx tubular
, campanulate
, or infundibuliform
, usually corollalike, 4- or 5(or 6) -merous, mostly caducous
, sometimes circumscissile, or persistent
; lobes
imbricate. Petals absent or represented by 4-12 scales
, inserted
at or near throat
of calyx tube (Aquilaria) . Stamens 2 to many, usually as many as calyx lobes and opposite them or twice as many. Hypognous disk usually present at base of ovary, scalelike, annular
or cup-shaped, sometimes absent. Ovary superior, 1- or 2-loculed, sessile or shortly stipitate
; ovules solitary in each locule, pendulous, anatropous
; style filiform
, caducous, sometimes very short or obscure
, terminal or eccentric
; stigma capitate, globose
, subglobose, subclavate, or pyramidal
, sometimes papilose. Fruit mostly indehiscent, dry or fleshy
, sometimes a loculicidal capsule (Aquilaria) . Seeds with or without endosperm, embryo straight.
About 48 genera and ca.
650 species: widely distributed in both hemispheres; nine genera and 115 species (89 endemic) in China.
The phloem contains very strong
fibers, which make the bark of many species very suitable for the manufacture of high-quality paper such as that used for bank notes
. The stems are extremely supple and difficult to break
and are used as a substitute for string. Most species are poisonous and some are important medicinally.[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:
Malvales
()
- Dumortier, 1829
- Family:
Thymelaeaceae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- mezereum
- Subfamily:
Thymelaeoideae
()
- Subfamily:
Thymelaeoideae
(
- Family:
Thymelaeaceae
(
- Order:
Malvales
(
- Superorder:
Euphorbianae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : [Dryand.] Publication : Hortus Kew. (W.T. Aiton), ed. 2. 2: 412 1811
Similar Species
Members of the genus Gnidia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
More Info
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Further Reading
- Loddiges, C. L. The botanical cabinet: consisting of coloured delineations of plants, from all countries, with a short account of each, directions for management, &c, &c /by Conrad Loddiges & Sons; the plates by George Cooke... 20 1833 London: John & Arthur Arch. .., 1817-1833. url no. 1958, p. G - H, p. G - O.
- The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 603.
- The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url p. 107.
- The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 602.
- The Journal of horticulture, cottage gardener and country gentlemen. London: George W. Johnson and Robert Hogg, 1861-1877. url p. 328, p. 329.
- Huang Shuchung & Zhang Zerong. 1999. Thymelaeaceae. In: Ku Tsuechih, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(1): 287-400.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 10811003
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15881541
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:831778-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 831778-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1423168
Footnotes
- Yinzheng Wang, Michael G. Gilbert, Brian F. Mathew, Christopher Brickell & Lorin I. Nevling "Thymelaeaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 213. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
