Tovariaceae Pax
~ Capparaceae
Habit and leaf form. Coarse herbs, or shrubs (or half-shrubs). Annual, or perennial. Leaves alternate; aromatic (the plants smelling of Apium or Cestrum when fresh, of coumarin when dried); compound; ternate; exstipulate. Lamina margins entire.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; paracytic.
Lamina dorsiventral.
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous (?). Xylem with libriform fibres.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in racemes. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences terminal; loose, elongate, many-flowered racemes. Flowers regular; (6–)8(–9) merous; cyclic. Floral receptacle developing a gynophore (this short), or with neither androphore nor gynophore. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; extrastaminal; lobed.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; (12–)16(–18); isomerous. Calyx (6–)8(–9); polysepalous; regular; not persistent; imbricate. Corolla (6–)8(–9); polypetalous; imbricate; regular. Petals shortly clawed to sessile.
Androecium (6–)8(–9). Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens (6–)8(–9); isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; filantherous (the filaments thickened basally, short-hairy or papillate). Anthers basifixed (sagittate); dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Microsporogenesis simultaneous. Tapetum glandular. Pollen shed as single grains. Pollen grains aperturate; (2–)3 aperturate; colporate (colporoidate); 2-celled.
Gynoecium (5–)6(–8) carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth to isomerous with the perianth. The pistil (5–)6(–8) celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous (with short style and peltate-lobulate stigma (Airy Shaw) or spreading stigmas (Cronquist)); superior. Ovary (5–)6(–8) locular. Gynoecium shortly stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; apical. Placentation axile (the placentas thickened, spongy). Ovules 20–70 per locule (‘many’); campylotropous; bitegmic; crassinucellate. Outer integument contributing to the micropyle. Embryo-sac development Polygonum-type. Synergids elongated, with filiform apparatus. Endosperm formation nuclear.
Fruit fleshy; indehiscent; slender pedicellate, a berry (mucilaginous when young, the pericarp membranous); many seeded. Seeds rather thinly endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds small. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo curved (around the periphery of the seed). Micropyle zigzag.
Physiology, biochemistry. Mustard-oils present. Cyanogenic. Aluminium accumulation not found.
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Sub-tropical to tropical. Central and Warm South America, West Indies. N = 14.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Violiflorae; Capparales. Cronquist’s Subclass Dilleniidae; Capparales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; Eurosid II; Brassicales. Species 2. Genera 1; only genus, Tovaria.
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).