Ledocarpaceae Meyen
~ Geraniaceae
Habit and leaf form. Small shrubs (or shrublets). Leaves usually opposite; simple, or compound. Lamina when simple dissected, or entire. Leaves exstipulate (but the opposing leaf bases connected by a transverse line).
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Wood parenchyma paratracheal.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; when aggregated, in corymbs. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences few-flowered corymbs. Flowers regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (Rhyncotheca being excluded); 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; polysepalous; regular; imbricate. Epicalyx of bracteoles present. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous; imbricate, or contorted. Petals entire.
Androecium 10. Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another; 2 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 10; diplostemonous; alternisepalous; both alternating with and opposite the corolla members. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; extrorse, or introrse. Pollen grains nonaperturate.
Gynoecium 3 carpelled, or 5 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth, or isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 3 celled, or 5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 3 locular, or 5 locular. Gynoecium shortly stylate, or non-stylate. Stigmas 3, or 5. Placentation axile, or apical. Ovules 2 per locule, or 5–50 per locule (‘many’); pendulous; epitropous; with ventral raphe; collateral (when two), or biseriate (when ‘many’); anatropous, or campylotropous (?).
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule (sometimes beaked). Capsules valvular (‘septifragal’), or loculicidal. Seeds thinly endospermic (the endosperm fleshy).
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Andes.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Rutiflorae; Geraniales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Geraniales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; unassigned to Eurosid I or Eurosid II; Geraniales. Species 11. Genera 2; Balbisia (Ledocarpon), Wendtia.
Cite this publication as: ‘L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The Families of Flowering Plants: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 14th December 2000. http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/’. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000), and Watson and Dallwitz (1991) should also be cited (see References).