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(Last Modified On 9/19/2013)
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(Last Modified On 9/19/2013)
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Family
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THEOPHRASTACEAE
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Contributor
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W. G. D'ARCY
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Description
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Shrubs or trees, rarely acaulescent; sometimes dioecious, wood often brittle and breaking along enlarged rays. Leaves simple, opposite, mostly coriaceous, entire or serrate, sometimes spinose, the venation pinnate, all species with char- acteristic linear sclereids running under the epidermis oriented without reference to the venation. Inflorescences short or elongate racemes, mostly with minute bracts subtending the short pedicels. Flowers white, orange or green, 3-5 merous, the sepals imbricate; corolla rotate or campanulate, basally united into a short tube, the lobes mostly rotund; staminodes inserted on the corolla near the base of the tube or at the mouth, often resembling the petals; stamens free or united, the anthers with the thecae distinct but coalescent, the ovary 1-locular, the pla- centation free central, ovules numerous, multiserriate, anatropous. Fruit a berry or drupe, the pericarp coriaceous or testaceous, indehiscent; seeds few or nu- merous, often immersed in a soft or gelatinous pulp; embryo straight, endosperm present.
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Habit
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Shrubs or trees
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Note
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This family of about five genera is centered in the Caribbean area with small genera, Deherania (Guatemala to Costa Rica), Theophrasta (Hispaniola), and Neomezia (Cuba) of local occurrence, and the two larger genera, Jacquinia and Clavija of much wider occurrence. Jacquinia occurs mainly in open hapitats of northern South America, the Antilles and and Central America, while Clavija occurs in deep humid forest with species more abundant in South America. In some places species of Jacquinia are used as barbascos to kill fish, while in some places, fruits of Clavija are eaten by man. Although there are two monographs of the family, one based on gross mor- phology (Mez, 1904) and one on foliar anatomy (Votsch, 1904), the taxonomy of the group is far from understood. There are difficulties in the study of this family: the small genera are known by only very scant material; Jacquinia is abundantly represented in herbaria, but plasticity makes species difficult to separate, and herbarium specimens of Clavija usually lack floral information adequate for un- derstanding of species or relationships.
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Reference
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D'Arcy, W. G. 1973. Correlliana (Myrsinaceae), a new palmoid genus of the tropical rain forest. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 60: 442-448. Mez, C. 1903. Theophrastaceae in A. Engler, Das Pflanzenreich 15(IV 236a). Votsch, W. 1904. Neue systematische-anatomische Untersuchungen von Blatt und Achse der Theophrastaceen. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 33: 502-546. Wood, C. E., Jr. & R. B. Channell. 1960. The genera of the Ebenales in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 41: 1-35.
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Key
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a. Leaves small, less than 4 cm wide, spine tipped; plants freely branching; flowers perfect ...... 2. Jacquinia aa. Leaves large, more than 6 cm wide, lacking spines; plants unbranched; flowers unisexual and plants dioecious ...... 1. Clavija
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