Ranunculaceae, Brassicaceae, Rutaceae And Malvaceae General Account And Diagnostic Features Of Families: Ranunculaceae, Brassicaceae, Rutaceae And Malvaceae Mrs. Inderveena Sharma Associate Professor In charge, Botany Department P.G. Govt. College For Girls Sector-11, Chandigarh.

Ranunculaceae

Classification CLASS: Dicotyledonae SUB-CLASS: Polypetalae SERIES: Thalamiflorae ORDER: Ranales FAMILY: Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae is a family of flowering plants also known as the "buttercup family" or "crowfoot family" The family consists of 51 to 88 genera, totalling about 2500 species. Numerically the most important genera are Ranunculus (600 species), Delphinium (365 species), Thalictrum (330 species), Clematis (325 species), and Aconitum (300 species). Ranunculaceae are mostly herbaceous plants, but with some woody climbers (such as Clematis) and subshrubs .

Leaves are very often more or less palmately compound. The flowers of the Ranunculaceae are generally showy and medium to large in size in order to attract pollinators. The flowers are actinomorphic or radially symmetrical. The perianth is made of one or, more commonly, two whorls, often not clearly differentiated into a true calyx and corolla, the sepals may be joined and the petals are often evolved into spurred nectaries or otherwise modified.

The flowers have many free stamens arranged in spirals and usually many free pistils. Flowers are most often grouped in terminal racemes, panicles or cymes. The fruit is most commonly a follicle (e. g. Helleborus, Nigella) or an achene (e. g. Ranunculus, Clematis).

Ranunculus

Ranunculus

Delphinium

Delphinium

Diagnostic Features Usually herbs often with divided leaves. Flowers hemicyclic with one to many generally free carpels. Stamens indefinite and extrose.

Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)

Classification CLASS: Dicotyledonae SUB-CLASS: Polypetalae SERIES: Thalamiflorae ORDER: Parietales FAMILY: Brassicaceae

BRASSICACEAE (formerly CRUCIFERAE) - The Cabbage Family is a large family with many plants of major economic importance, including many familiar vegetables (Cabbage, Turnip), oil crops (Oil-seed Rape), ornamental plants (Wallflower, Alyssum), and weeds . They are mostly annual or perennial herbaceous plants, with one or two small shrubs or climbers The leaves are usually alternate up the stem.They have large, fleshy roots as in Turnips or Swedes, large leaves as in Cabbages, large flower buds as in Cauliflower and Broccoli.

The flowers are cruciform, made up of four petals in a cross shape The flowers are cruciform, made up of four petals in a cross shape. They are usually in clusters or heads, and the flowers are very often white or yellow, although they may be red, blue, orange, white, pink or mauve, particularly in species cultivated for ornament. Rarely (as in the Candytuft), there are two large and two small petals. Sepals 4 in two whorls of two each, polysepalous, slightly petalloid. Stamens 6 in two whorls(2+4), polyandrous, tetradynamous. Gynoecium bicarpellary, syncarpous, ovary superior.

Brassica

Brassica

Diagnostic Features Herbs with alternate exstipulate leaves. Corolla cruciform. Stamens tetradynamous. Ovary bicarpellary syncarpous, unilocular but becomes bilocular due to the development of a false septum; fruit is siliqua.

Rutaceae

Classification CLASS: Dicotyledonae SUB-CLASS: Polypetalae SERIES: Disciflorae ORDER: Gentianales FAMILY: Rutaceae

Rutaceae, commonly known as the or citrus family[, is a family of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales. Most species are trees or shrubs, a few are herbs(Boenninghausenia), frequently aromatic with glands on the leaves, sometimes with thorns . The leaves are usually opposed and compound, and without stipules. On the leaves can be found pellucid glands which are responsible for the aromatic smell of the members of Rutaceae.

Flowers are bractless, solitary or in cyme, rarely in raceme, and mainly pollinated by insects. They are radially or (rarely) laterally symmetric, and generally hermaphroditic. They have four or five petals and sepals sometimes three, mostly separate.Eight to ten stamen (five in Skimmia, many in Citrus), usually separate or in several groups.

Usually a single stigma with 2 to 5 united carpels, sometimes ovaries separate and styles combined. The fruit of Rutaceae are very variable: berries, drupes, hesperidiums, samara, capsules and follicles all occur. Seed number also varies widely.

Citrus

Citrus

Murraya

Murraya

Diagnostic Features Leaves exstipulate and containing aromatic oil glands. Stamens 2-5 or and obdiplostemonous. Disc annular. Fruit hesperidium.

Malvaceae

Classification CLASS: Dicotyledonae SUB-CLASS: Polypetalae SERIES: Thalamiflorae ORDER: Malvales FAMILY: Malvaceae

                                                           Leaves are generally alternate, often palmately lobed or compound and palmately veined. The margin may be entire, but when dentate a vein ends at the tip of each tooth . The flowers are commonly borne in definite or indefinite axillary inflorescences, which are often reduced to a single flower, but may also be cauliflorous, oppositifolious or terminal. They often bear supernumerary bracts. They can be unisexual or bisexual and are generally actinomorphic, often associated with conspicuous bracts. They generally have five valvate sepals, most frequently basally connate. Five imbricate petals.   

The stamens are five to numerous, connate at least at their bases, but often forming a tube around the pistils. The pistils are composed of two to many connate carpels. The ovary is superior, with axial placentation. Capitate or lobed stigma. The flowers have nectaries made of many tightly packed glandular hairs, usually positioned on the sepals. Fruits :Most often a loculicidal capsule, a schizocarp or nut.                                                        

Hibiscus

Hibiscus

Diagnostic Features Leaves stipulate. Calyx often with an epicalyx. Stamens monothecous and anthers reniform. Fruit capsule or Schizocarp.

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