The Polygalaceae or the milkwort
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
are made up of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...
s in the order
Fabales
The Fabales are an order of flowering plants included in the rosid group of the eudicots in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II classification system. In the APG II circumscription, this order includes the families Fabaceae or legumes (including ...
. They have a
near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
of
herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...
s,
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...
s and
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s. Over half of the species are in one genus, ''
Polygala'', the
milkworts.
The family was first described in 1809 by
Johann Hoffmansegg and
Johann Link.
In 1896,
Robert Chodat Robert Hippolyte Chodat (4 June 1865, Moutier – 28 April 1934) was a Swiss botanist and phycologist who was a professor and director of the botanical institute at the University of Geneva.
He studied medicine and botany at Geneva, where he was l ...
split it into 3 tribes. A fourth tribe was split off from the tribe
Polygaleae in 1992.
Under the
Cronquist classification system, Polygalaceae were treated in a separate order of their own, Polygalales. Currently, according to the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disc ...
, the family belongs in Fabales.
Description
''Polygalaceae'' are
annual
Annual may refer to:
*Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year
** Yearbook
** Literary annual
*Annual plant
*Annual report
*Annual giving
*Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco
*Annuals (band), ...
or
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...
herbs, shrubs, shrublets, and small trees. Its
zygomorphic
Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts.
Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...
,
hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...
,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
flowers have 3-5 petals and 5
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...
s.
alternate
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
, but may be opposite, fascicled, or verticillate
This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...
.[ Each flower usually contains 8 stamens, though this may range from 3 to 10. They are usually in 2 series.][ The fruits of each plant can be a capsule, ]samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...
, or drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel ...
.[
]
Tribes and genera
The Polygalaceae comprise the following genera,Bredemeyera
''Bredemeyera'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae.
Its native range is Southern Mexico to Tropical America.
Species
*''Bredemeyera atlantica''
*''Bredemeyera barbeyana''
*''Bredemeyera bracteata''
*''Bred ...
'' Willd.
**'' Caamembeca'' J.F.B. Pastore
**'' Comesperma'' Labill.
**'' Epirixanthes'' Blume
**'' Gymnospora'' (Chodat) J.F.B. Pastore
**'' Hebecarpa'' (Chodat) J.R. Abbott
**'' Heterosamara'' Kuntze
**'' Hualania'' Phil.
**'' Monnina'' Ruiz & Pav.
**'' Monrosia'' Grondona
**''Muraltia
''Muraltia'' is a genus of plants in the milkwort family ( Polygalaceae) which is native to Southern and Eastern Africa. Most of the species are endemic to South Africa, and one species is naturalized in Australia. It is named after Johannes von ...
'' DC.
**'' Phlebotaenia'' Griseb.
**'' Polygala'' L.
**'' Polygaloides'' Haller
**'' Rhamphopetalum'' J.F.B.Pastore & M.Mota
**'' Rhinotropis'' (S.F. Blake) J.R. Abbott
**'' Salomonia'' Lour.
**''Securidaca
''Securidaca'' is a genus of shrubs and lianas in the family Polygalaceae. It is native to tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, SE Asia and the Americas from Mexico and the West Indies to Paraguay.
Species
Currently recognized species are:
*''Secur ...
'' L.
*Xanthophylleae Chodat
**''Xanthophyllum
''Xanthophyllum'' is a genus of about 109 species of trees and shrubs, of the plant family Polygalaceae; (under the Cronquist system it was previously placed in the monotypic family Xanthophyllaceae). The generic name is from the Greek meaning ...
'' Roxb.
*Other genera
**'' Trigoniastrum'' Miq.
Fossils
*†
A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species). It is one of the modern descendan ...
'' Deviacer'' Manchester
*†'' Paleosecuridaca'' Pigg, Kathleen B., M.L. DeVore & M.F. Wojc. 2008
Systematics
Modern molecular phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
suggest the following relationships:
References
{{Authority control
Rosid families