Vaccaria hispanica var. oxyodonta

Description

Family Caryophyllaceae

Herbs annual or perennial , rarely subshrubs or shrubs . Stems and branches usually swollen at nodes. Leaves opposite, decussate, rarely alternate or verticillate , simple , entire , usually connate at base ; stipules scarious , bristly , or often absent. Inflorescence of cymes or cymose panicles, rarely flowers solitary or few in racemes , capitula, pseudoverticillasters, or umbels. Flowers actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual , occasionally cleistogamous . Sepals (4 or) 5, free , imbricate, or connate into a tube , leaflike or scarious, persistent , sometimes bracteate below calyx. Petals (4 or) 5, rarely absent, free, often comprising claw and limb; limb entire or split, usually with coronal scales at juncture of claw and limb. Stamens (2--) 5--10, in 1 or 2 series. Pistil 1; carpels 2--5, united into a compound ovary. Ovary superior, 1-loculed or basally imperfectly 2--5-loculed. Gynophore present or absent. Placentation free, central, rarely basal; ovules (1 or) few or numerous , campylotropous. Styles (1 or) 2--5, sometimes united at base. Fruit usually a capsule, with pericarp crustaceous , scarious, or papery , dehiscing by teeth or valves 1 or 2 Ã� as many as styles, rarely berrylike with irregular dehiscence or an achene. Seeds 1 to numerous, reniform , ovoid , or rarely dorsiventrally compressed , abaxially grooved , blunt , or sharply pointed , rarely fimbriate-pectinate; testa granular , striate or tuberculate , rarely smooth or spongy ; embryo strongly curved and surrounding perisperm or straight but eccentric ; perisperm mealy.

Between 75 and 80 genera and ca. 2000 species: widespread but mainly of temperate or warm-temperate occurrence in the N hemisphere, with principal centers of distribution in the Mediterranean region and W Asia to W China and the Himalayas, fewer species in Africa S of the Sahara, America, and Oceania; 30 genera (two endemic) and 390 species (193 endemic) in China.

Arenaria, Silene, and Stellaria contain over half the species in the family in China. They are mostly concentrated in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau , and are especially rich from the Hengduan Mountains to the Himalayas. The main uses of this family are medicinal and ornamental . Dianthus superbus, Pseudostellaria heterophylla, Stellaria dichotoma var. lanceolata, and Vaccaria hispanica are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine . Some species of Arenaria, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Psammosilene, and Silene are used as medicinal herbs among the people or are habitually used in local Chinese medicine. Many species of Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, and Silene are grown as ornamentals. Atocion armeria (Linnaeus) Rafinesque ( Silene armeria Linnaeus), native to Russia and Europe, is also cultivated in China. It differs from Silene in having a corymbose inflorescence and obscure calyx veins. Wu Cheng-yih, Ke Ping, Zhou Li-hua, Tang Chang-lin & Lu De-quan. 1996. Caryophyllaceae. In: Tang Chang-lin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 26: 47â��449.Dequan Lu, Zhengyi Wu, Lihua Zhou, Shilong Chen, Michael G. Gilbert, Magnus Lid�n, John McNeill, John K. Morton, Bengt Oxelman, Richard K. Rabeler, Mats Thulin, Nicholas J. Turland & Warren L. Wagner "Caryophyllaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Genus Vaccaria

Herbs, annual . Taproots stout. Stems simple proximally, branched distally, terete . Leaves opposite, somewhat clasping or connate proximally into sheath , petiolate (basal) or sessile (cauline) ; blade 1-veined, lanceolate to oblong- or ovate-lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse . Inflorescences terminal , lax to erect , open, often flat-topped cymes; bracts paired , foliaceous ; involucel bracteoles absent. Pedicels erect. Flowers: sepals connate proximally into tube , 9-17 cm, tube whitish green, 5-veined, cylindric to ovoid , 5-angled or winged , especially in fruit, commissures between sepals absent; lobes green, 1-veined, obovate to broadly triangular, shorter than tube, margins green or reddish, scarious , apex acute or acuminate; petals 5, pink to purplish, clawed, auricles absent, coronal appendages absent, blade apex entire or sometimes briefly 2-fid; nectaries at filament bases ; stamens 10, adnate to petals; filaments distinct ; staminodes absent; ovary 1-locular or sometimes 2-locular proximally; styles 2(-3), filiform , 10-12 mm, glabrous proximally; stigmas 2(-3), linear along adaxial surface of styles, papillate (30×). Capsules oblong to subglobose, exocarp opening by 4(-6) slightly spreading teeth, endocarp opening irregularly; carpophore present. Seeds ca. 10, black, subglobose, laterally compressed , papillose , marginal wing absent, appendage absent; embryo peripheral, curved . x = 15.

Species 1 or 4: introduced ; Eurasia ; introduced in South America, Africa (Republic of South Africa), Australia.John W. Thieret, Richard K. Rabeler "Vaccaria". in Flora of North America Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Biology

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Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- 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: Caryophyllidae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Superorder: Caryophyllanae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Order: Caryophyllales () - Perleb, 1826
        Suborder: Caryophyllineae () - �
        Family: Caryophyllaceae () - Durande, 1782, nom. cons. - Pink Family
        Genus: Vaccaria () - Wolf, Gen. Pl. 3. 1776. - [Latin vacca, cow, and -aria, pertaining to, alluding to alleged value for fodder]
        Specific epithet: hispanica - (Boiss.) J.Léonard
        Variety: oxyodonta
        Botanical name: - Vaccaria hispanica var. oxyodonta (Boiss.) J.Léonard