Including Anagallidaceae Baudo, Lysimachi(ac)eae Juss., Samolaceae(`-ineae') Dum.
Excluding Coridaceae
Habit and leaf form. Herbs; with coloured juice, or non-laticiferous and without coloured juice. Perennial (commonly), or annual; with a basal aggregation of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal aggregations of leaves; often rhizomatous, or tuberous. Hydrophytic (Hottonia), or helophytic to xerophytic (many alpine); the hydrophytic Hottonia rooted. Leaves alternate, or opposite, or whorled; when alternate, spiral; petiolate to sessile; non-sheathing; gland-dotted; simple. Lamina entire (usually), or dissected; in Hottonia, pinnatifid; pinnately veined, or palmately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves exstipulate. Lamina margins crenate to dentate (usually), or entire. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem.
Leaf anatomy. Hydathodes commonly present. Stomata present; anomocytic.
Lamina dorsiventral (usually), or centric; with secretory cavities, or without secretory cavities. Secretory cavities schizogenous, or lysigenous (with red contents). The mesophyll generally without calcium oxalate crystals. Minor leaf veins with phloem transfer cells (variably so, in Anagallis only), or without phloem transfer cells (Anagallis, Auricula, Cyclamen, Dodecatheon, Glaux, Lysimachia, Primula, Samolus, Sodanella).
Stem anatomy. Secretory cavities present, or absent (?). Cork cambium present, or absent (?); initially deep-seated, or superficial. Nodes unilacunar. Primary vascular tissue in a cylinder, without separate bundles, or comprising a ring of bundles, or in two or more rings of bundles to in scattered bundles. Secondary thickening absent, or developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous (Hottonia, Primula p.p.). Xylem with libriform fibres; with vessels. Vessel end-walls simple. Sieve-tube plastids S-type.
Reproductive type, pollination. Hermaphrodite; plants often heterostylous. Entomophilous.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in `inflorescences'; in heads, in umbels, and in panicles. Inflorescences scapiflorous (often), or not scapiflorous; terminal (commonly), or axillary; umbels, panicles or heads. Flowers ebracteolate; small, or medium-sized; regular; (3-)5(-9) merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic. Free hypanthium absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (usually), or sepaline (the corolla absent in Glaux); (6-)10(-18); 2 whorled (usually), or 1 whorled; isomerous. Calyx (3-)5(-9); 1 whorled; gamosepalous; regular; persistent (usually); imbricate; with the odd member posterior. Corolla (3-)5(-9); 1 whorled; appendiculate (with staminodal scales), or not appendiculate; gamopetalous; imbricate, or contorted; regular; green, or white, or yellow, or red, or red, or purple, or blue. Petals deeply bifid to bilobed, or entire.
Androecium (3-)5(-9), or 10. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); free of one another; 1 - whorled, or 2 - whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens, or including staminodes. Staminodes when present, 4-6 (alternating with the stamens); when present, petaloid (scales). Stamens (3-)5(-9); isomerous with the perianth; alternisepalous. Anthers dehiscing via pores, or dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Endothecium developing fibrous thickenings. Microsporogenesis simultaneous. The initial microspore tetrads tetrahedral. Anther wall initially with one middle layer. Tapetum glandular. Pollen grains aperturate; (2-)3 - aperturate, or 3-10 - aperturate; colpate (3-10), or colporate (then usually tricolpate or -colporoidate, sometimes syn- or parasyncolpate); 2-celled.
Gynoecium supposedly 5. Carpels usually isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior (usually), or partly inferior (Samolus). Ovary 1 locular (and no evidence of partitions). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; apical. Stylar canal present. Stigmas 1 (simple); dry type; papillate, or non-papillate; Group II type. Placentation free central. Ovules in the single cavity (5-)7-100 (usually `many'); ascending; non-arillate; anatropous, or hemianatropous; bitegmic; tenuinucellate. Outer integument contributing to the micropyle. Endothelium differentiated. Embryo-sac development Polygonum-type. Polar nuclei fusing only after one has been fertilized, or fusing simultaneously with the male gamete (?). Antipodal cells formed; 3; not proliferating. Synergids elongated. Endosperm formation nuclear. Embryogeny caryophyllad.
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent (usually), or indehiscent (rarely); a capsule (usually), or capsular-indehiscent. Capsules valvular, or denticidal (usually five valved and dehiscing by apical teeth), or circumscissile (rarely). Fruit (1-)2-100 seeded (i.e. to `many'). Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds with amyloid. Cotyledons 1 (Cyclamen), or 2. Embryo achlorophyllous (5/10); straight.
Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.
Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Alkaloids present (rarely), or absent. Iridoids absent. Proanthocyanidins present (nearly always), or absent (Soldanella); cyanidin, or cyanidin and delphinidin. Flavonols present; kaempferol and quercetin, or kaempferol, quercetin, and myricetin. Ellagic acid present (Hottonia), or absent (usually - 14 species, 7 genera). Arbutin absent. Saponins/sapogenins present, or absent. Aluminium accumulation not found. C3. C3 recorded in Anagallis, Androsace, Lysimachia, Primula. Anatomy non-C4 type (Anddrosace, Lysimachia, Samolus).
Geography, cytology. Frigid zone to tropical. Widespread, but centred in the North temperate. X = 5, 8-15, 17, 19, 22.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren's Superorder Primuliflorae; Primulales. Cronquist's Subclass Dilleniidae; Primulales. Takhtajan's Subclass Dilleniidae; Ericanae; Primulales. Species 1000. Genera 20; Anagallis, Androsace, Ardisiandra, Bryocarpum, Cortusa, Cyclamen, Dionysia, Dodecatheon, Glaux, Hottonia, Kaufmannia, Lysimachia, Omphalogramma, Pelletiera, Pomatosace, Primula, Samolus, Soldanella, Stimpsonia, Trientalis.
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