Interesting Facts
Description
Family Lecythidaceae
Trees
or shrubs
, evergreen
. Leaves alternate, usually crowded toward apices of branchlets
, shortly petiolate
; stipules usually absent; leaf blade
simple
. Flowers showy, borne in short, bracteate
racemes
or spikes, actinomorphic
or zygomorphic, bisexual
. Calyx with a campanulate
tube
adnate
to ovary; lobes
4-6, thick. Petals 4-6, free
, rarely absent. Stamens many, united
at base
into several whorls, often several sterile
, either monadelphous
and equally arranged around disk, or diadelphous
in 2 unequal bundles, outermost staminodial; anthers
basifixed
, 2-celled, opening by longitudinal
slits. Disk sometimes lobed
. Ovary inferior or semi-inferior, 2-6-loculed; ovules 1 to many per locule; placentation axile
; style terminal
, simple; stigma capitate. Fruit an indehiscent berry or operculate
capsule, often crowned by persistent
calyx lobes. Seed[s] 1 [to many]; endosperm absent.
About 20 genera and 450 species: tropical regions
of Africa, Asia, Australia, some Pacific islands, and South America; one genus and three species (one endemic) in China.[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:
Asteridae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Theanae
()
- Thorne Ex Reveal, 1993
- Order:
Ericales
()
- Dumortier, 1829
- Family:
Lecythidaceae
()
- A. Rich., in J.B.G.M. Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1825, nom. cons.
- Brazil-Nut Family
- Subfamily:
Lecythidoideae
()
- Tribe:
Lecythideae
()
- Genus:
Lecythis
()
- Loefling, 1758
- Specific epithet:
curranii
- Pittier
- Botanical name: - Lecythis curranii Pittier
- Specific epithet:
curranii
- Pittier
- Genus:
Lecythis
(
- Tribe:
Lecythideae
(
- Subfamily:
Lecythidoideae
(
- Family:
Lecythidaceae
(
- Order:
Ericales
(
- Superorder:
Theanae
(
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Pittier Publication : Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. xx. 130 (1918).
Similar Species
Members of the genus Lecythis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 6 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
L. minor (Lecythis) · L. ollaria (Lecythis) · L. pisonis (Monkey Pot) · L. pisonis usitata (Monkey-Pot) · L. zabucaja (Zabucaya Nut) · L. zabucajo (Paradise Nut)
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
- Lo Hsien-shui. 1983. Lecythidaceae. In: Fang Wen-pei & Chang Che-yung, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(2): 121-125.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 12, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4556596
Footnotes
- Haining Qin & Sir Ghillean (Iain) T. Prance "Lecythidaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 293. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
