Subclass Commelinidae

Biology 211: Taxonomy of Flowering Plants

A TOUR OF REQUIRED FLOWERING PLANT FAMILIES

Class Liliopsida

Subclass Commelinidae

51. Commelinaceae - Spiderwort; herbs with succulent stems and ± swollen nodes, often mucilaginous; leaves with a closed basal sheath; flowers borne in boat-shaped bracts; sepals 3, green; petals 3, commonly blue; stamens 6, filaments often with brightly colored hairs.

52. Juncaceae - Rush; Tufted herbs; leaves sometimes rededuced to a basal sheath; perianth in 2 series with 6 segments; stamens 6; fruit a capsule.

53. Cyperaceae - Sedge; Herbs, stems often triangular, solid; leaves 3-ranked, sheaths closed; flowers subtended by a single bract; perianth represented by bristles, scales or absent.

54. Poaceae (Gramineae) - Grass; stems round, internodes usually hollow; leaves 2-ranked, sheaths open or sometimes closed, ligule present; bracts of glumes, lemma and palea; perianth of 0-3 lodicules; stamens usually 3; fruit a grain or caryopsis.

55. Sparganiaceae - Bur-reed; rhizomatous aquatic herbs; leaves alternate, simple, ± linear, erect or floating; flowers imperfect, plants monoecious; in globose heads, staminate heads above the pistillate ones; 3 or 6 sepaloid tepals; stamens 3 or more; carpels 1.

56. Typhaceae - Cattail; large perennial herbs of fresh to slightly brackish marshes and shores; leaves 2-ranked, blades linear, thick and spongy; inflorescence a dense cylindrical spike divided into a saminate and a pistillate part.

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