Interesting Facts
Description
Family Myrtaceae
Trees
or shrubs
, evergreen
, usually with essential oils-containing cavities in foliage
, branchlets
, and flowers. Stipules absent or small and caducous
. Leaves opposite, occasionally alternate, occasionally ternate
or pseudo-whorled; leaf blade
with secondary veins pinnate or basal, often with intramarginal veins
near margin
, margin usually entire. Inflorescences axillary
or terminal
, cymose
but variously arranged, 1- to many-flowered. Flowers bisexual
, sometimes polygamous, actinomorphic
. Hypanthium usually adnate
to ovary and prolonged above it. Calyx lobes
(3 or) 4 or 5 or more, distinct
or connate
into a calyptra. Petals 4 or 5, sometimes absent, distinct or connate into a calyptra, sometimes coherent and pseudocalyptrate. Stamens usually numerous
, in 1 to several whorls; filaments
distinct or connate into 5 bundles opposite petals; anthers
2-celled, dorsifixed
or basifixed
, dehiscing longitudinally or rarely terminally; connectives
usually terminating in 1 or more apical glands
. Ovary inferior, semi-inferior, or very rarely superior, carpels 2 to more, locules 1 to many, pseudoseptum sometimes present, placentation usually axile
but occasionally parietal
; ovules 1 to several per locule. Style single; stigma single. Fruit a capsule, berry, drupaceous
berry, or drupe, 1- to many-seeded. Seeds without endosperm or endosperm sparse and thin; testa cartilaginous
or thinly membranous, sometimes absent; embryo straight or curved
.
About 130 genera and 4500-5000 species: Mediterranean region, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, tropical
and temperate
Asia, Australia, Pacific islands, tropical and South America; 10 genera (five introduced
) and 121 species (50 endemic, 32 introduced treated here) in China.
Many Myrtaceae are cultivated garden ornamentals
, street trees, or plantation trees. Some members
of tribe
Syzygieae are grown as fruit crops. In addition to the cultivated members of the family
treated here, some others grown in China include Acca sellowiana (O. Berg
) Burrett (Feijoa sellowiana (O. Berg) O. Berg), Myrtus communis Linnaeus, and Syncarpia glomulifera (Smith) Niedenzu.[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:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Myrtanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Myrtales
()
- Reichenbach, 1828
- Suborder:
Myrtineae
()
-
- Family:
Myrtaceae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Myrtle Family
- Subfamily:
Leptospermoideae
()
- Genus:
Leptospermum
()
- J.R. Forster & J.G.A. Forster, 1775
- Cultivar:
Karo Spectrobay
- Botanical name: - Leptospermum 'Karo Spectrobay'
- Cultivar:
Karo Spectrobay
- Genus:
Leptospermum
(
- Subfamily:
Leptospermoideae
(
- Family:
Myrtaceae
(
- Suborder:
Myrtineae
(
- Order:
Myrtales
(
- Superorder:
Myrtanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Leptospermum
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 41 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
L. arachnoides (Tea Tree) · L. brachyandrum (Weeping Tea Tree) · L. continentale (Prickly Tea-Tree) · L. flavescens (Common Teatree) · L. grandiflorum (Mountain Tea Tree) · L. javanicum (Tea Tree) · L. laevigata (Coastal Teatree) · L. laevigatum (Australian Teatree) · L. lanigerum (Silky Tea-Tree) · L. liversidgei (Lemon-Scented Tea Tree) · L. minutifolium (Tea Tree) · L. myrsinoides (Heath Tea Tree) · L. myrtifolium (Swamp Tea Tree) · L. namadgiensis (Tea Tree) · L. nitidum (Shining Tea Tree) · L. novae-angliae (New England Tea Tree) · L. petersonii (Lemon-Scented Tea-Tree) · L. polygalifolium (Tantoon Tea Tree) · L. recurvum (Sayat-Sayat) · L. rotundifolium 'Jervis Bay' (Round-Leaf Tea Tree) · L. rotundifolium 'Manning's Choice' (Round-Leaf Tea Tree) · L. rupestre (Alpine Tea Tree) · L. scoparium (Manuka) · L. scoparium J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. 'Keatleyi' (Tea Bush) · L. scoparium 'Burgundy Glow' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Burgundy Queen' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Gaiety Girl' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Helene Strybing' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Kea' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Nanum Ruru' (Dwarf New Zealand Tea Tree) · L. scoparium 'Nanum Tui' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Red Damask' (Tea Tree) · L. scoparium 'Red Falls' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Ruby Glow' (Manuka) · L. scoparium 'Wiri Linda' (Manuka) · L. sericeum (Silver Tea Tree) · L. spectabile (Blood Red Tea Tree) · L. squarrosum (Pink Tea-Tree) · L. trinervium (Paperbark Tea-Tree) · L. wooroonooran (Tea Tree) · L. 'Dark Shadows' (Manuka)
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
- Chang Hung-ta & Miau Ru-hwai. 1984. Myrtaceae. In: Chen Chieh, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53(1): 28-135.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1892487
Footnotes
- Jie Chen & Lyn A. Craven "Myrtaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 321. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
