Strelitziaceae

Taxonomy

Family name: Strelitziaceae (K. Schumann) J. Huchinson

Synonym(s): [none]

Common name(s): bird-of-paradise-flower family

*Number of genera/species: 3/7

List of genera records in GRIN-Global

Disseminule

fruit or seed

Description

Fruit dehiscentdehiscent:
(v. dehisce) splitting open at maturity to release contents (of a fruit)
, loculicidalloculicidal:
type of capsular dehiscence, opening longitudinally through the locules (compare septicidal)
capsulecapsule:
a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels
, 11–70 mm long, oblongoblong:
2D shape—much longer than broad with nearly parallel sides, corners are rounded
or trigonoustrigonous:
3D shape—having three faces that meet at distinct angles; triangular in outline
, angledangled:
2D shape—having sides that meet at acute or obtuse angles  
in transectiontransection:
a cross section; representing a plane made by cutting across an organ at a right angle to its length
, beakedbeaked:
a usually firm, terminal appendage, sometimes tapered
(sometimes short beakedbeaked:
a usually firm, terminal appendage, sometimes tapered
or beakbeak:
a usually firm, terminal appendage, sometimes tapered
dehiscent), many seeded. Pericarppericarp:
fruit wall or fruit coat
brown, woodywoody:
consisting mainly of indurate lignified tissues, characteristic of or resembling wood
.

Seed globoseglobose:
3D shape—more or less spherical
, tereteterete:
approximately circular in cross section; width and thickness approximately equal
or flattened in transectiontransection:
a cross section; representing a plane made by cutting across an organ at a right angle to its length
, with rudimentaryrudimentary:
(of embryo) embryo is small and fills less than a quarter of the seed and can be variable in shapes, such as linear, spatulate, or oval
or well developed (Ravenela) operculumoperculum:
a dehiscent cap (or lid) of a seed or fruit that opens during germination or dehiscence
without micropylar collarmicropylar collar:
collar shaped tissue at micropyle
. Seed coat brown or black, shinyshiny:
uniformly reflecting a high proportion of incident light at all angles
, with blue (Ravenela), orange (Strelitzia), or red (Phenakospermum) dense hair-like arilaril:
(broad sense) appendicular structure that wholly or partly envelops a seed and is produced from or a modification of the funicle, raphe, or outer integument; usually fleshy or pulpy, sometimes spongy or tufted-capillate, often brightly colored
, hard, smooth or striatestriate:
surface relief—having fine, parallel lines, grooves or ridges
. Arilaril:
(broad sense) appendicular structure that wholly or partly envelops a seed and is produced from or a modification of the funicle, raphe, or outer integument; usually fleshy or pulpy, sometimes spongy or tufted-capillate, often brightly colored
well-developed, adnate to hilumhilum:
on seeds, the scar indicating where the funiculus was attached; on grass caryopses, the scar visible on the outer caryopsis surface revealing where the seed is attached on the inner fruit wall surface; or in Asteraceae cypselae, the scar visible on the pericarp revealing where the fruit was attached to the receptacle
or seed coat, and fleshyfleshy:
texture—fairly firm and dense, juicy or at least moist, and easily cut
.

Embryo large, capitatecapitate:
head-shaped; abruptly enlarged on one end to a relatively short, terminal portion
, straight or curvedcurved:
(of embryo) linear embryo is curved into an arch or horseshoe with the ends far apart
. Endospermendosperm:
nutritive starch- and oil-containing tissue present in many seeds
copious, mealymealy:
loose, dry, and disintegrating in finely granular pieces like meal or flour
.

Identification features

Fruit
Type	capsulecapsule: a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels
Size range	11–70 mm long
Shape(s)	oblong, trigonous
Texture	woodywoody: consisting mainly of indurate lignified tissues, characteristic of or resembling wood
Color(s)	brown
Unique features	Brown, woodywoody: consisting mainly of indurate lignified tissues, characteristic of or resembling wood , beakedbeaked: a usually firm, terminal appendage, sometimes tapered capsulescapsules: a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels with globoseglobose: 3D shape—more or less spherical arillate seeds.
Seed
Shape(s)	globoseglobose: 3D shape—more or less spherical
Surface relief	smooth, striate
Color(s)	brown, black
Unique features	Brown or black, globoseglobose: 3D shape—more or less spherical , smooth or striatestriate: surface relief—having fine, parallel lines, grooves or ridges seeds with brightly colored, dense hair-like coverings or lacinate lobes of arilsarils: (broad sense) appendicular structure that wholly or partly envelops a seed and is produced from or a modification of the funicle, raphe, or outer integument; usually fleshy or pulpy, sometimes spongy or tufted-capillate, often brightly colored .
Other
Embryo	large, capitatecapitate: head-shaped; abruptly enlarged on one end to a relatively short, terminal portion , straight or curved
Nutritive tissuenutritive tissue: tissue within the seeds that nourishes the developing embryo; such as endosperm, perisperm, or chalazosperm in angiosperms; megagametophyte in gymnosperms	endosperm endosperm: nutritive starch- and oil-containing tissue present in many seeds copious, mealy

Distribution

Tropical South America, southern Africa, and Madagascar.

Distribution map courtesy of Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.

References

Baskin and Baskin 2021Baskin and Baskin 2021:
Baskin C and Baskin J. 2021. Relationship of the lateral embryo (in grasses) to other monocot embryos: A status up-grade. Seed Science Research 31 (3): 199-210. doi:10.1017/S0960258521000209; Dahlgren et al. 1985Dahlgren et al. 1985:
Dahlgren RMT, Clifford HT, and Yeo PF. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons: structure, evolution, and taxonomy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 520 pp.; Kirkbride et al. 2006Kirkbride et al. 2006:
Kirkbride JH, Jr, Gunn CR, and Dallwitz MJ. 2006. Family guide for fruits and seeds, vers. 1.0. Accessed September 2020ndash;January 2022. URL: https://nt.ars-grin.gov/seedsfruits/keys/frsdfam/index.cfm .; Kubitzki et al. 1990+Kubitzki et al. 1990+:
Kubitzki K et al., eds. 1990+. The families and genera of vascular plants. 7+ vols. Berlin etc.; Stevenson and Loconte 1995Stevenson and Loconte 1995:
Stevenson DW and Loconte H. 1995. A cladistic analysis of monocot families. In: Rudall PJ, Cribb PJ, Cutler DF, and Humphries CJ, eds. Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

*The number of genera and species is based on Christenhusz and Byng 2016Christenhusz and Byng 2016:
Christenhusz MJM and Byng JW. 2016. The number of known plant species in the world and its annual increase. Phytotaxa 261 (3): 201ndash;217. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1, which may differ from the number of genera in GRIN-Global.