Neosciadium Domin

Scientific Description

Family Apiaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Small herbs; bearing essential oils, or without essential oils (?); resinous, or not resinous (?). Annual; plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves (?). Helophytic. Leaves small to large (?); alternate; somewhat fleshy; petiolate; more or less sheathing. Leaf sheaths with free margins. Leaves gland-dotted, or not gland-dotted (?); aromatic, or foetid, or without marked odour (?); simple; pulvinate, or epulvinate (?). Leaf blades entire; obovate; pinnately veined; cuneate at the base. Leaves with stipules. Stipules 2, free. Leaf blade margins dentate. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent. Stem anatomy. Nodes multilacunar, or tri-lacunar (?). Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous (?); from a single cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite (usually). Entomophilous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in umbels, or in heads (by contraction of the umbel). Inflorescences simple. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose (?). Inflorescences terminal; with involucral bracts, or without involucral bracts (?). Flowers sessile; bracteate; small; regular to somewhat irregular (?); 5 merous (except for the gynoecium); cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (but the calyx reduced to a ring), or petaline (calyx teeth lacking); 5, or 10; 2 -whorled, or 1 -whorled; isomerous; white. Calyx present to vestigial, or absent; when detectable, 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; slightly imbricate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular; white. Corolla members entire (apex blunt). Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal to markedly unequal (?); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; inflexed in bud. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium median. Epigynous disk present. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 2; free to partially joined (their bases thickened into one or two stylopodes crowning the ovary); apical. Stigmas wet type; non-papillate; Group IV type. Placentation axile, or apical (?). Ovules 1 per locule, or 2 per locule (usually two, but one abortive ?); pendulous; epitropous; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; spinose (with short, glochidiate bristles); a schizocarp. Mericarps 2 (5-ribbed, dorsal and intermediate ribs prominent). Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo achlorophyllous; straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found. Photosynthetic pathway: C₃.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia and South Australia.