Caryocaraceae Szyszyl.
Alternatively Rhizobolaceae
Including Simabaceae Horan. (p.p.)
Habit and leaf form. Trees (mostly), or shrubs (or undershrubs). Leaves evergreen; alternate (Anthodiscus), or opposite (Caryocar); leathery; petiolate; compound; digitately ternate, or bipinnate (to 5-foliolate). Lamina palmately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves stipulate, or exstipulate. Stipules when present, caducous. Lamina margins sub entire, or serrate to dentate. Domatia recorded; represented by hair tufts.
Leaf anatomy. Hydathodes commonly present. Mucilaginous epidermis present, or absent. Stomata present; anomocytic, or anisocytic, or paracytic.
The mesophyll with sclerencymatous idioblasts.
Stem anatomy. Cork cambium present; initially superficial. Nodes multilacunar. Internal phloem absent. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Included phloem absent. Xylem with fibre tracheids, or without fibre tracheids; with libriform fibres; with vessels. Vessel end-walls oblique; simple. Wood parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite. Cheiropterophilous (in Caryocar).
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in inflorescences; in racemes (sometimes condensed). The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences terminal. Flowers ebracteate; large; calyptrate (Anthodiscus), or not calyptrate; regular. Free hypanthium present to absent (the stamens subperigynous).
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10 (usually), or 12; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5(6); 1 whorled; gamosepalous; regular; imbricate, or open in bud. Corolla 5(6); 1 whorled; polypetalous, or gamopetalous (basally). Corolla lobes markedly longer than the tube. Corolla calyptrate (in Anthodiscus), or not calyptrate; imbricate; regular.
Androecium 50200 (very many). Androecial members branched (?); maturing centrifugally; free of the perianth; coherent; 1 adelphous, or 5 adelphous (shortly connate basally, into a ring or five bundles alternating with the corolla members). The androecial bundles when bundled, alternating with the corolla members. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens, or including staminodes (the inner filaments sometimes without anthers). Staminodes internal to the fertile stamens. Stamens 50200 (very many); polystemonous; oppositisepalous. Anthers dorsifixed; sub versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits. Pollen grains aperturate; (2)3(6) aperturate; (syn) colporate, or rugate.
Gynoecium 420 carpelled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth to increased in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 420 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; superior. Ovary 420 locular (equalling G). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 420; free; apical. Stigmas 420. Placentation axile. Ovules 1 per locule; ascending (Hutchinson, Thonner); orthotropous to anatropous; bitegmic.
Fruit fleshy, or non-fleshy; indehiscent, or a schizocarp (then leathery). Mericarps 420 (?). Fruit usually a drupe (the fleshy mesocarp sometimes poisonous, sometimes edible). The drupes with separable pyrenes (mericarps). Seeds thinly endospermic, or non-endospermic. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2 (small). Embryo with an enlarged, oily and proteinaceous, spirally twisted hypocotyl, and inflexed cotyledons.
Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Arbutin absent.
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Tropical. Tropical America.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli (?). Dahlgrens Superorder Theiflorae; Theales. Cronquists Subclass Dilleniidae; Theales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; Eurosid I; Malpighiales. Species 25. Genera 2; Anthodiscus, Caryocar.
Illustrations. Technical details (Caryocar, Anthodiscus).
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).