Interesting Facts
Description
Family Berberidaceae
Herbs or shrubs
[trees
], perennial
, evergreen
or deciduous, sometimes rhizomatous
. Stems with or without spines. Leaves alternate, opposite, or fascicled, simple
, 2-3-foliolate, or 1-3-pinnately or 2-3(-4) -ternately compound
; stipules present or absent; venation
pinnate or palmate. Inflorescences terminal
or axillary
, racemes
, cymes, umbels (or umbel-like), spikes, or panicles, or flowers solitary or in pairs, flowers pedicellate
or sessile. Flowers bisexual
, inconspicuous or showy, radially symmetric
; stipitate
glands
absent (except in Vancouveria ) ; sepaloid
bracteoles 0-9; perianth sometimes absent ( Achlys ), more frequently present, 2- or 3-merous, or sepals and petals intergrading ( Nandis ) ; sepals 6, distinct
, often petaloid
and colored
, not spurred
; petals 6-9, distinct, plane
or hooded
; nectary
present; stamens 6; anthers
dehiscing by valves
or longitudinal
slits; ovary superior, apparently 1-carpellate; placentation marginal
or appearing basal; style present or absent, sometimes persistent
in fruit as beak
. Fruits follicles, berries
, or utricles. Seeds 1-50, sometimes arillate
; endosperm abundant; embryo large or small; mature
seeds elevated
on elongating stalk
in Caulophyllum.
Genera 15, species ca.
650 (8 genera, 33 species in the flora
) : widespread, well represented in the north temperate
zone.
Berberidaceae presents several interesting biogeographic features. Achlys is disjunct
from western North America to east Asia with few morphologic differences between taxa. Diphylleia, Jeffersonia, and Podophyllum, each with a single eastern North American species, exhibit
wide disjunctions
to east Asia. Caulophyllum has three species, one in east Asia and two in the flora. Vancouveria is endemic to northwestern United
States with nearest relations to Epimedium Linnaeus (H. Loconte and J. R. Estes 1989b; W. T. Stearn 1938), an exclusively Eastern Hemisphere genus.
Nandina, Berberis, Epimedium, and Podophyllum are cultivated.
The perianth of Berberidaceae is commonly composed of three distinct types of organs, but terminology for the organs varies from author
to author. In our treatment, we refer to the small, outer parts as bracteoles (collectively forming a calyculus) ; the large, middle
parts as sepals; and the innermost parts, which are commonly nectariferous
, as petals. Some authors have referred to the bracteoles as outer sepals and to the petals as staminodes.[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:
Ranunculidae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Superorder:
Ranunculanae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order:
Ranunculales
()
- Dumortier, 1829
- Family:
Berberidaceae
()
- Durande, 1782, nom. cons.
- bayberries
- Subfamily:
Berberidoideae
()
- Tribe:
Leonticeae
()
- Genus:
Gymnospermium
()
- Spach, 1839
- Specific epithet:
altaicum
- (Fischer ex DC.) E.Mayer & Pulevic
- Subspecies:
odessanum
- Botanical name: - Gymnospermium altaicum odessanum (Fischer ex DC.) E.Mayer & Pulevic (Fischer ex DC.) E.Mayer & Pulevic
- Subspecies:
odessanum
- Specific epithet:
altaicum
- (Fischer ex DC.) E.Mayer & Pulevic
- Genus:
Gymnospermium
(
- Tribe:
Leonticeae
(
- Subfamily:
Berberidoideae
(
- Family:
Berberidaceae
(
- Order:
Ranunculales
(
- Superorder:
Ranunculanae
(
- Subclass:
Ranunculidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Basionym
: Berberidaceae Leontice altaica Pall. var. odessana
Basionym author: (Fischer ex
DC.)
Similar Species
Members of the genus Gymnospermium
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 0 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
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Further Reading
- Ernst, W. R. 1964. The genera of Berberidaceae, Lardizabalaceae, and Menispermaceae in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 45: 1-35.
- Loconte, H. 1993. Berberidaceae. In: K. Kubitzki et al., eds. 1990+. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. 2+ vols. Berlin etc. Vol. 2, pp. 147-152.
- Loconte, H. and J. R. Estes. 1989b. Phylogenetic systematics of Berberidaceae and Ranunculales (Magnoliidae). Syst. Bot. 14: 565-579.
- Meacham, C. A. 1980. Phylogeny of the Berberidaceae with an evaluation of classifications. Syst. Bot. 5: 149-172. Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (in English).... Washington.
- Nowicke, J. W. and J. J. Skvarla. 1981. Pollen morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the Berberidaceae. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 50: 1-83.
- Terebayashi, S. 1985. The comparative floral anatomy and systematics of the Berberidaceae. I. Morphology. Mem. Fac. Sci. Kyoto Univ., Ser. Biol. 10: 73-90.
- Terebayashi, S. 1985b. The comparative floral anatomy and systematics of the Berberidaceae. II. Systematic considerations. Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 36: 1-13.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4531211
Footnotes
- Whetstone, R. David, T. A. Atkinson and Daniel D. Spaulding "Berberidaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
