Lepuropetalaceae (Engl.) Nak.
~ Saxifragaceae, Parnassiaceae
Habit and leaf form. Diminutive herbs (with leaves brown-streaked from tannins). Plants more or less succulent. Annual. Leaves (sub) opposite, or alternate; simple. Lamina entire. Leaves exstipulate.
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent (?).
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary; terminal; ebracteolate; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla, or sepaline (the corolla minute or missing); 5–10; 1 whorled, or 2 whorled. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; polysepalous; regular. Corolla when present, 1–5; 1 whorled; when recognisable, polypetalous (the petals tiny, round to spathulate).
Androecium 10. Androecial members free of the perianth and adnate; free of one another; 2 whorled. Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 5; external to the fertile stamens (constituting an outer, epipetalous whorl). Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous (very short). Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; colporate.
Gynoecium 3–4 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; inferior. Ovary 1 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 3–4; free; shorter than the ovary (very short). Stigmas 3; commissural (along with the styles); capitate. Placentation parietal. Ovules in the single cavity 30–100 (‘many’).
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule (globose, thin-walled). Capsules loculicidal. Seeds scantily endospermic (the endosperm layer one cell thick). Perisperm absent.
Geography, cytology. Holarctic and Neotropical. Southern U.S.A., Mexico, Chile.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli (? — apetalous or polypetalous). Dahlgren’s Superorder Theiflorae; Droserales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Rosales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; Eurosid I; unassigned at ordinal level (as a synonym of Parnassiaceae). Species 1. Genera 1; Lepuropetalon.
Cf. Parnassiaceae.
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).