Ochnaceae DC.
Including Euthemidaceae Van Tiegh., Lophiraceae Endl., Luxemburgiaceae Van Tiegh., Sauvagesiaceae Dum., Simabaceae Horan. (p.p.), Wallaceaceae Van Tiegh.
Excluding Diegodendraceae, Strasburgeriaceae
Habit and leaf form. Trees and shrubs (mostly), or herbs (few). Mesophytic. Leaves evergreen; alternate; ‘herbaceous’, or leathery; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple (mostly), or compound; mostly racemose or paniculate; rarely (i.e. when compound) pinnate (Godoya). Lamina pinnately veined (usually with numerous parallel laterals); cross-venulate. Leaves stipulate. Lamina margins entire, or serrate, or dentate. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem.
Leaf anatomy. Mucilaginous epidermis present, or absent. Stomata present; anomocytic, or paracytic.
Adaxial hypodermis present, or absent. Lamina dorsiventral (usually), or isobilateral. The mesophyll with sclerencymatous idioblasts (forming a continuous subepidermal layer), or without sclerenchymatous idioblasts. Minor leaf veins without phloem transfer cells (Ochna).
Stem anatomy. Cork cambium present; initially superficial. The cortex containing cristarque cells. Nodes tri-lacunar, or multilacunar. Primary vascular tissue in a cylinder, without separate bundles. Cortical bundles nearly always present. Medullary bundles usually present. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. The secondary phloem stratified into hard (fibrous) and soft (parenchymatous) zones, or not stratified. Xylem with fibre tracheids, or without fibre tracheids; with libriform fibres, or without libriform fibres; with vessels. Vessel end-walls simple, or scalariform and simple. Vessels with vestured pits, or without vestured pits. Wood parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal.
Reproductive type, pollination. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes, in panicles, in fascicles, in racemes, and in umbels. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary. Flowers regular (usually, more or less), or somewhat irregular. The floral irregularity when manifest involving the androecium. Floral receptacle developing an androphore, or with neither androphore nor gynophore. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; (7–)10(–20); 2 whorled; isomerous, or anisomerous. Calyx (3–)5(–10); 1 whorled; polysepalous, or gamosepalous (at the base); imbricate. Corolla (4–)5(–10) (from as many as to twice the calyx); 1 whorled; polypetalous; imbricate (rarely), or contorted (usually); regular. Petals clawed to sessile.
Androecium 5, or 10, or 11–100 (usually ‘many’). Androecial members branched (then associated with 5 trunk bundles), or unbranched; when many, maturing centripetally; free of the perianth; free of one another, or coherent (stamens sometimes in bundles, the staminodes sometimes connate into a tube); when bundled 5 adelphous; 1–5 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens, or including staminodes. Staminodes when present, 5–25; petaloid, or non-petaloid, or petaloid and non-petaloid. Stamens 5, or 10, or 11–100 (usually ‘many’); isomerous with the perianth to diplostemonous (sometimes), or triplostemonous to polystemonous (usually). Anthers basifixed; dehiscing via pores (usually), or dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Endothecium developing fibrous thickenings. Microsporogenesis simultaneous. The initial microspore tetrads tetrahedral. Anther wall initially with one middle layer. Tapetum glandular. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; mostly colporate; 2-celled.
Gynoecium 2–15 carpelled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth, or increased in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 1 celled, or 2–15 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous (but then deeply lobed, the carpels free above), or synstylous; superior. Carpel when ovaries free, 1–50 ovuled (to ‘many’). Placentation marginal. Ovary when the ovaries joined, 1 locular, or 2–5 locular (unilocular or becoming more or less completely 2 to 15 locular by ingrowth of the placentas). Gynoecium long stylate. Styles 1; from a depression at the top of the ovary; ‘gynobasic’ (inserted deeply between the lobes). Stigmas dry type; non-papillate; Group II type. Placentation axile, or parietal. Ovules 1 per locule (Ochna etc.), or 2 per locule (Euthemis), or 5–50 per locule (‘many’, e.g. Godoya); ascending (usually), or pendulous (rarely); apotropous (usually), or epitropous; always with ventral raphe; non-arillate; anatropous to campylotropous; unitegmic to bitegmic; tenuinucellate. Outer integument contributing to the micropyle. Embryo-sac development Polygonum-type. Polar nuclei fusing prior to fertilization. Antipodal cells formed; 3 (large); not proliferating. Synergids with filiform apparatus. Endosperm formation nuclear.
Fruit fleshy, or non-fleshy; dehiscent, or indehiscent, or a schizocarp. Mericarps when schizocarpic, 3–10; comprising drupelets (the one-seeded drupelets, whorled on the gynophore). Fruit a capsule, or capsular-indehiscent, or a berry, or a drupe. Capsules septicidal. Seeds endospermic, or non-endospermic. Endosperm oily, or not oily. Seeds winged (often), or wingless. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight (usually), or curved.
Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar, or cryptocotylar.
Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Alkaloids absent (2 species). Iridoids not detected. Proanthocyanidins present; cyanidin. Flavonols absent. Ellagic acid absent. Saponins/sapogenins absent. Aluminium accumulation not found.
Geography, cytology. Sub-tropical to tropical. Pantropical. X = 7, 12, 14.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; dubiously Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Theiflorae; Theales. Cronquist’s Subclass Dilleniidae; Theales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; Eurosid I; Malpighiales. Species 600. Genera about 35; Adenanthe, Adenarake, Blastemanthus, Brackenridgea, Campylospermum, Cespedesia, Elvasia, Euthemis, Fleurydora, Godoya, Gomphia, Idertia, Indosinia, Indovethia, Krukoviella, Lophira, Luxemburgia, Ochna, Ouratea, Perissocarpa, Philacra, Poecilandra, Rhabdophyllum, Rhytidanthera, Sauvagesia, Schuurmansia, Schuurmansiella, Sinia, Testulea, Tyleria, Wallacea.
Illustrations. • Technical details (Ochna). • Technical details (Ochna, Sauvagesia). • Technical details (Lophira).
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).
