Common Name: RHATANY FAMILY
Habit: Shrub [perennial herb], green root-parasite. Stem: prostrate to erect, much-branched. Leaf: generally simple [1-ternate], alternate, crowded on short-shoots or not, sessile [petioled]; stipules 0; blade linear to ovate, hairy, glandular or not, tip abruptly pointed. Inflorescence: flowers 1 in axils [terminal racemes]; pedicel jointed, bractlets 2. Flower: bisexual, bilateral; sepals 4--5, free, petal-like, magenta, red-purple [yellow]; petals generally 5, 3 upper linear to clawed, free or fused basally, held in +- upright flag, 2 lower modified as glands; stamens generally 4, fused to flag base, upcurved, anthers opening by pores; ovary superior, hairy, style slender, upcurved. Fruit: nut-like, with smooth or barbed prickles; seed 1.
Genera In Family: 1 genus, 18 species: America, arid semitropics, tropics. Note: Pollinating bees collect oils secreted by glandular petals.
eFlora Treatment Author: Beryl B. Simpson
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.