Selliera Cav.

Scientific Description

Common name. Sellieras. Family Goodeniaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs, or herbaceous climbers (or prostrate). Perennial. Leaves cauline (ass.). Plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves. Stem internodes solid (ass.). Mesophytic, or xerophytic. Leaves alternate (clustered at the nodes or solitary); spiral; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; ovate (rarely), or obovate (to spathulate), or linear; pinnately veined. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present (C), or absent (more or less glossy); complex hairs present, or absent. Extra-floral nectaries absent (ass.). Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent, or developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Entomophilous. Pollination mechanism conspicuously specialized (involving a stylar modification for pollen presentation).

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in heads. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences scapiflorous, or not scapiflorous; terminal, or axillary; with involucral bracts; pseudanthial. Flowers pedicellate (to 12 mm long, not articulate); bracteate (B); bracteolate (linear); small to medium-sized; very irregular. The floral asymmetry involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; (8–)10; 2 -whorled; isomerous, or anisomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; blunt-lobed; tubular. Calyx lobes oblong to ovate, or linear. Corolla present; 5 (more or less equal); 1 -whorled; not appendiculate; gamopetalous; lobed. Corolla tube adaxially deeply split. Corolla valvate; tubular; unequal but not bilabiate (the lobes spreading digitately); white (usually whitish inside), or brown (reddish-brown outside); not spurred. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth, or adnate; all equal (ass.); free of one another, or coherent; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; all more or less similar in shape (ass.); isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Anthers separate from one another, or cohering; basifixed; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed in aggregates, or shed as single grains. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; bearing an ‘indusium’ beneath the stigma. Indusium cupular. Styles apical. Stigmas 1; 2 - lobed. Placentation axile. Ovules 20–50 per locule (numerous); ascending; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy; an aggregate (tardily), or not an aggregate; indehiscent; a berry (‘berrylike’); 2 celled (ass.); 20–100 seeded (many). Seeds copiously endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds winged. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight.

Etymology. After Fran‡ois Noel (or Natale) Sellier (1737-c.1800) of Paris, who made botanical drawings for the works of Cavanilles and Desfontaines.