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Synonyms: Cercodiaceae Juss.; Myriophyllaceae Schultz Sch.
Common name: Water-milfoil Family.
Number of genera 8. Number of species 120.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 2–5, or 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium, or anthocarp; simple, or schizocarp; achene (Haloragis); achenarium (Myriophyllum); simple; diclesium (Haloragis); without persistent central column; crowned by petals; not within accessory organ(s); less than 1 cm long; 0.2–0.25 cm long; 2–4-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection angled; 3-angled; apex beaked; apex short beaked; wall sub membranaceous, or woody; indehiscent, or dehiscent (Myriophyllum). Dehiscent unit endocarp(s). Dehiscent regularly; passively; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades), or yellow; durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; smooth, or not smooth; yellowish-black warted, or rugose, or tuberculate (or costate or channeled ornaments); without wing(s), or with wing(s) (Haloragis, Myriophyllum); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; and endocarp sharply differentiated. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; woody; splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes, or not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; stone unilocular; stone 2–4-loculate; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; membranous; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo. Endosperm development cellular, or nuclear (Laurembergia); copious, or moderate, or scant; fleshy-soft; corrugated; with starch; with oils; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; 0.1–0.3 times length of embryo; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan (mostly in Southern Hemisphere, especially in Australia). New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania (mostly southern hemisphere & Australia).
Weed information
1 or more USA state noxious weeds.
USA states and territories with listed noxious weeds: Alabama (AL), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Florida (FL), Idaho (ID), Iowa (IA), Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), Minnesota (MN), Montana (MT), Nevada (NV), New Hampshire (NH), New Mexico (NM), North Carolina (NC), Oregon (OR), Puerto Rico (PR), South Carolina (SC), South Dakota (SD), Texas (TX), Vermont (VT), Washington (WA), Wisconsin (WI).
USA state and territory noxious weeds: -- Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc.: USA state noxious weed: ALª●, CTª, MAª, MEª, PRª, VTª, WAª. -- Myriophyllum heterophyllum Michx.: USA state noxious weed: CTª, MAª, MEª, VTª. -- Myriophyllum spicatum L.: USA state noxious weed: ALª●, CAª, COª, CTª, FLª, IAª, IDª, MAª, MEª, MNª, MTª, NCª, NMª, NVª, ORª, PRª, SCª, SDª, TXª, VTª, WAª, WIª. -- Myriophyllum spp.: USA state noxious weed: NHª, PRª. -- Symbols: ªaquatic weed; ●terrestrial weed; °weed in seed. -- Last updated September 2008.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Glischrocaryon Endl. -- Gonocarpus Thunb. -- Haloragis J. R. Forst. & G. Forst. -- Haloragodendron Orchard -- Laurembergia P. J. Bergius -- Meziella Schindl. -- Myriophyllum L. -- Proserpinaca L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 617. Orchard, A.E. 1975. Taxonomic revisions in the family Haloragaceae. I. The genera Haloragis, Haloragodendron, Glischrocaryon, Meziella, and Gonocarpus. Bull. Auckland Inst. Mus. 10:1–299; Durani, S. & A.M. Kak. 1986. Seed studies on the aquatic genus Myriophyllum (Haloragaceae). J. Pl. Anat. Morphol. 3:123–127.
General references
Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Engler, A. and K. Prantl. 1924 and onward. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilimien. W. Engelman, Leipzig, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R. and C.A. Ritchie. 1988. Identification of disseminules listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1719:1–313, Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, LeMaout, E. and J. Decaisne. 1876. A general system of botany, 1,065 p. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Cronquist has no illustration. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Orchard (1975). Seed illustration(s): Karen, Durani & Kak (1986), Gunn & Ritchie. Embryo illustration(s): Karen, LeMaout & Decasine, Engler & Prantl, Gunn & Ritchie, Martin. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 186: Glishrocharyon aureum (Lindl.) Orchard (A-C), Gonocarpus micranthus Kon. (D-F), Haloragis colensoi Skottsb. (G-H), Laurembergia brasiliensis [not in INPI] (J-L), Glischrocaryon (Loudonia) behrii Schltdl.(M-O), Myriophyllum spicatum L. (P-R), Proserpinaca palustris L. (S-U).
• Fruit. 1 of 8. Haloragis erecta (Murray) Eichl.: fruits. • Seed. 2 of 8. Haloragis erecta (Murray) Eichl.: seed. • Embryo. 3 of 8. Glischrocaryon aureum (Lindl.) Orchard: embryo. • Embryo. 4 of 8. Gonocarpus micrantha (Thunb.) R. Br. ex Sieb: embryo. • Embryo. 5 of 8. Haloragis erecta (Murray) Oken: embryo. • Embryo. 6 of 8. Loudonia behrii Schltdl.: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 8. Myriophyllum spicatum L.: embryo. • Embryo. 8 of 8. Proserpinaca palustris L.: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
