~ Liliaceae - Colchiceae
Habit and leaf form. Herbs. Perennial; with a basal aggregation of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal aggregations of leaves; cormous, or rhizomatous (Gloriosa). Self supporting, or climbing; climbers stem twiners and tendril climbers. Mesophytic. Leaves alternate; spiral (usually), or distichous; petiolate (rarely), or sessile; sheathing; simple. Lamina entire; linear, or lanceolate; parallel-veined; without cross-venules. Lamina margins entire.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; anomocytic.
Lamina dorsiventral. The mesophyll containing calcium oxalate crystals. The mesophyll crystals druses, or solitary-prismatic (no raphides). Vessels absent.
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent. Xylem without vessels.
Root anatomy. Root xylem with vessels (in the fibrous roots only). Vessel end-walls scalariform.
Reproductive type, pollination. Hermaphrodite. Floral nectaries present. Nectar secretion from the perianth (usually), or from the androecium (e.g. Colchicum).
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in `inflorescences'; in cymes, in racemes, and in umbels. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences scapiflorous, or not scapiflorous; terminal, or axillary, or leaf-opposed; espatheate. Flowers small to large; regular; 3 merous; cyclic; pentacyclic. Perigone tube present, or absent.
Perianth of `tepals'; 6(-8); free, or joined; 1 whorled (commonly in Australian genera, e.g. Wurmbea), or 2 whorled (usually 3+3?); isomerous; petaloid; without spots, or spotted; similar in the two whorls (in size and form); white, or purple, or red, or yellow.
Androecium 6. Androecial members free of the perianth (usually), or adnate (to the tepals); all equal; free of one another (usually), or coherent (e.g. Sandersonia, Wurmbea); rarely 1 - adelphous; 1 - whorled (e.g. Wurmbea), or 2 - whorled (usually, 3+3). Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 6; diplostemonous; al\ter\ni\peri\anthial. Anthers dorsifixed, or basifixed; versatile, or non-versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; extrorse (usually), or latrorse (very rarely almost introrse); tetrasporangiate. The thickenings spiral. Microsporogenesis successive. Tapetum glandular. Pollen grains aperturate; 1 - aperturate, or 2-4 - aperturate; sulcate (mostly), or foraminate, or spiraperturate; 2-celled.
Gynoecium 3(-4). Carpels isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious (with free stylodia, or the single style tribrachiate); superior. Ovary 3(-4) locular. Styles 1, or 3; free to partially joined; apical. Stigmas 3; wet type, or dry type. Placentation axile. Ovules 5-50 per locule; anatropous to campylotropous; bitegmic; pseudocrassinucellate. Embryo-sac development Polygonum-type. Polar nuclei fusing prior to fertilization. Antipodal cells formed; 3; proliferating (Iphigenia, up to 11 cells), or not proliferating. Endosperm formation nuclear. Embryogeny onagrad, or asterad.
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules septicidal (usually), or loculicidal, or septicidal and loculicidal (e.g. Wurmbea). Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds wingless. Cotyledons 1 (conspicuously coleoptile-like). Embryo straight (rarely subglobose). Testa without phytomelan.
Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Alkaloids typically present (colchicine and related compounds). Proanthocyanidins absent. Flavonols absent. Ellagic acid absent. Saponins/sapogenins absent. Inulin recorded (Gibbs 1974). C3 recorded in Gloriosa. Anatomy non-C4 type (Gloriosa).
Geography, cytology. Holarctic, Paleotropical, and Cape. Temperate. Europe, 429,1 430,2/4/6/8 Mediterranean, to Central Asia and North India, centred on the summer rainfall regions of southern Africa. X = 5-12(-19). Supposed basic chromosome number of family 11.
Taxonomy. Subclass Monocotyledonae. Superorder Liliiflorae; Liliales. Species about 200. Genera about 20; Androcymbium, Anguillaria, Baeometra, Burchardia (? - lacking colchicine and related compounds), Colchicum, Gloriosa, Hexacyrtis, Iphigenia, Littonia, Neodregea, Onixotis, Ornithoglossum, Sandersonia, Wurmbea etc. (Dahlgren et al. 1985).
Illustrations. colch850.gif
