Overview
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Critically Endangered |
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Description
Family Euphorbiaceae
The Euphorbiaceae are mostly monoecious herbs, shrubs , and trees , sometimes succulent and cactus-like, comprising one of the largest families of plants with about 300 genera and 7,500 species that are further characterized by the frequent occurrence of milky sap . The leaves are mostly alternate but may be opposite or whorled and they are simple , or compound , or sometimes highly reduced. Stipules are generally present but may be reduced to hairs , glands or spines. The flowers are unisexual and usually actinomorphic . They may be highly reduced by suppression of parts, in the extreme form consisting of a naked stamen as a male flower and a naked pistil as a female flower. A specialized type of miniature inflorescence called a cyathium occurs in about 1,500 species comprising the genera Euphorbia and Chamaesyce. The cyathium consists of a single naked pistillate flower surrounded by cymes of naked staminate flowers, each consisting of a single stamen. These flowers are all enclosed in a cup-like involucre that typically is provided with peripheral nectaries and petaloid appendages such that the whole aggregation closely resembles a single flower. In other members of the family the flowers and inflorescences are more ordinary in appearance , with male and female flowers typically bearing a 5-merous calyx and corolla of distinct segments, although the corolla is sometimes absent. In these forms the androecium most commonly consists of 5, 10 or sometimes numerous distinct or monadelphous stamens. The gynoecium of female flowers consists of a single compound pistil of typically 3 carpels, an equal number of styles or primary style branches, and a superior ovary with typically 3 locules, each bearing 1 or 2 collateral , axile-apical pendulous ovules. The fruit is usually a capsular schizocarp. -- Gerald Carr.
Habitat
Ecology: Lowland wet evergreen forest .[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Magnoliophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Flowering Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Dilleniidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Euphorbianae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order:
Euphorbiales
()
- Lindley, 1833
- Family:
Euphorbiaceae
()
- J.f. Gmelin, 1777, Nom. Cons.
- Spurge Family
- Genus:
Agrostistachys
()
- Specific epithet:
hookeri
- Benth. & Hook.f.
- Botanical name: - Agrostistachys hookeri Benth. & Hook.f.
- Specific epithet:
hookeri
- Benth. & Hook.f.
- Genus:
Agrostistachys
(
- Family:
Euphorbiaceae
(
- Order:
Euphorbiales
(
- Superorder:
Euphorbianae
(
- Subclass:
Dilleniidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Magnoliophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Sarcoclinium hookeri Thwaites
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Govaerts R., 11-Nov-2003
Similar Species
Members of the genus Agrostistachys
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 7 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
A. borneensis · A. coriacea · A. gaudichaudii · A. hookeri · A. indica · A. sessilifolia · A. staminodiata
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Abeywickrama, B.A. 1990. The threatened plants of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka: NARESA. UNESCO - Man and the Biosphere National Committee for Sri Lanka.
- Green, M.J.B. and Gunawardena, E.R. N. (comps.) 1997. Designing an optimum protected areas system for Sri Lanka's natural forests. Prepared by IUCN-The World Conservation Union and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. (unpublished).
- Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N. and Gunatilleke, C.V.S. 1991. Threatened woody endemics of the wet lowlands of Sri Lanka and their conservation. Biological Conservation 55(1): 17-36.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesFeb 2, 2006.
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3454627
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-4810
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14239419
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:338293-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 338293-1
- IUCN ID: 32548
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1020881
Footnotes
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008. [back]
