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Common name: Ptaeoxylon Family.
Number of genera 3. Number of species 8.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; septicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; with persistent central column; valves not diverging at top of central column (Ptaeroxylon has central column breaking up into a number of fibrous strands); not within accessory organ(s), or within accessory organ(s); within calyx; more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 6–10-seeded; less than 1 cm long to from 1–5 cm long; 0.8–3 cm long; 2–5-carpellate (2–3–5); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively (assumed); linearly; by ventral sutures; at apex; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades); dull; durable; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs); hairs short; hairs dense; hairs not glandular; without armature; not smooth; ribbed (2–5 ribbed); without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without grooves; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; 10 to less than 25 mm long; 13–22 mm long; oblong (over all for body & wing but notched in 1 side where body joins wing); in transection compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without food reserves, or without apparent food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; 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; with wing(s); 1-winged; with wing at one end; with wing(s) solid; with solid wing(s) similar to testa; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; brown (all shades); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo, or surrounding food reserve. Endosperm thin; fleshy.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve), or partially filling testa (with food reserve); chamber basal to wing; 1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons; curved or folded; parallel to seed length (at least cotyledons); with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; moderately developed; 0.8 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 10 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; accumbent to hypocotyl-radicle; moderately thick; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins adhering; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle small; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Ptaeroxylon Africa (& Madagascar: Cedralopsis).
Notes
White & Styles (1986): "Capsule splitting into 2 persistent, bilobed valves, central column breaking up into a number of fibrous strands". Letry & Lescot (1991): Fruit capsule, carpels separate at maturity from persistent central column, dehiscing along adaxial suture. Goldberg does not have family. Spjut: "samaroid capsule of 2–5 follicles dehiscing on inner suture. Fruit with translucent punctations.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Bottegoa Chiov. -- Cedrelopsis Baill. -- Ptaeroxylon Eckl. & Zeyh.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 798 (Cronquist & Mabberley have in Sapindaceae). White, F. & B.T. Styles. 1986. Ptaeroxylaceae. In: K.L. Immelman et al., eds., Flora of Southern Africa 18(3):35–37; Leroy, J.-F. & M. Lescot. 1991. Ptaeroxylaceae. Famille 107 bis. In: P. Morat, ed., Flore de Madagascar et des Comores, pp. 87–119. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat., Paris; Leroy, J.-F. 1959. Sur une petite famille de Sapindales propre a l'Afrique australe et a Madagascar, Les Pt. Compt. Rend. Hebd. Seances Acad. Sci. 248:1001–1003.
General references
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, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): White & Styles (1986). Seed illustration(s): White & Styles (1986). Embryo illustration(s): White & Styles (1986).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Ptaeroxylon obliquum (Thunb.) Radlk.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 3. Ptaeroxylon obliquum (Thunb.) Radlk.: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Ptaeroxylon obliquum (Thunb.) Radlk.: 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’.
