|
|||||||||
Rhamnaceae Habit: [Perennial herb] shrub, tree, generally erect, often thorny. Leaf: simple, generally alternate, often clustered on short-shoots; stipules generally present, occasionally modified into spines; generally petioled; blade pinnate-veined or 1--5-ribbed from base. Inflorescence: cyme, panicle, umbel, or flowers 1 or clustered in axils or on short-shoots. Flower: generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium subtending, surrounding, or partly fused to ovary; sepals 4--5; petals 0, 4--5, generally clawed; stamens 0, 4--5, alternate sepals, attached to hypanthium top, each generally fitting into a petal concavity; disk (0 or) between stamens, ovary, thin to fleshy, entire or lobed, free from ovary, adherent or fused to hypanthium; ovary superior or +- inferior, chambers [1]2--4, 1--2-ovuled, style 1, stigma entire or 2--3-lobed. Fruit: capsule, drupe. Genera In Family: 50--52 genera, 950 species: especially tropics, subtropics some cultivated (Ceanothus; Frangula; Rhamnus; Ziziphus). Jepson eFlora Author: John O. Sawyer, Jr. Reference: Richardson et al. 2000 Amer J Bot 87:1309--1324 Unabridged Reference: Brizicky 1965 J Arnold Arbor 45:439--463; Richardson et al. 2000 Kew Bull 55:311--341 Scientific Editor: Steve Boyd, Thomas J. Rosatti. Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Key to Rhamnaceae Previous taxon: Reseda odorata Next taxon: Adolphia |