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Loganiaceae Mart.

Reference
Nov.Gen.Sp.Pl. 2:133 (1827)
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Common name. Logania Family.

Habit and leaf form. Trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas, or herbaceous climbers. Self supporting, or climbing. Mesophytic. Leaves opposite; connate, or not connate; simple. Leaf blades entire; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves more or less with stipules (sometimes with colleters), or without stipules (but then the opposing bases connected by lateral lines). Stipules interpetiolar (or represented by a stipular sheath); free of one another, or concrescent; often much reduced; with colleters (secreting mucilage), or without colleters. Domatia recorded (Coinochlamys); represented by pockets. Stem anatomy. Nodes unilacunar (with 1–several traces), or tri-lacunar, or multilacunar. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous; via concentric cambia.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’ (usually), or solitary; in cymes (when not solitary). The terminal inflorescence unit usually cymose. Inflorescences terminal; cymes. Flowers bracteate; bracteolate; regular; 4–5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Hypogynous disk small or absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 8–10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 4–5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; imbricate; bilabiate; when K 5 with the median member anterior. Corolla 4–5; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; imbricate, or contorted (rarely); regular. Androecium (1–)4–5. Androecial members adnate (epipetalous); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens (1–)4, or 5; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth to isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled, or 2 celled, or 3 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious, or eu-syncarpous; superior, or partly inferior (rarely). Ovary unilocular, or plurilocular; 1 locular, or 2 locular, or 3 locular. Gynoecium median; stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; apical. Placentation when unilocular, parietal; usually axile. Ovules in the single cavity when unilocular, 25 (or more); 25 per locule (or more); anatropous, or hemianatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules septicidal, or loculicidal, or valvular. Seeds endospermic; winged, or wingless. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight (usually), or curved. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found.

Geography, cytology, number of species. World distribution: pantropical, and a few warm temperate. 130 species.

Leslie Watson, 8 September 2016

Keys

Western Australian Genera and Families of Flowering Plants — an interactive key

T.D. Macfarlane, L. Watson, N.G. Marchant