Thismiaceae

Taxonomy

Family name: Thismiaceae J. Agardh

Synonym(s): [none]

Common name(s): thismia family

*Number of genera/species: 5/77

List of genera records in GRIN-Global

Disseminule

seed

Description

Fruit dehiscent, circumscissilecircumscissile:
(~pyxis); type of capsular dehiscence, opens by a lid (splitting transversely)
capsulecapsule:
a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels
, hemisphericalhemispherical:
2D shape—shaped like half a sphere
or conicalconical:
3D shape—cone-shaped, with the point of attachment at the broad end
, 1.5–6 mm long, tereteterete:
approximately circular in cross section; width and thickness approximately equal
in transectiontransection:
a cross section; representing a plane made by cutting across an organ at a right angle to its length
, with persistent perianthperianth:
collective term for calyx and corolla of a flower
tube base, stylestyle:
in a flower, the narrow and elongated part of the pistil between the stigma and the ovary; sometimes persisting in fruit
, and stigmastigma:
the portion of the pistil receptive to pollen
at apexapex:
the point farthest from the point of attachment, or the "tip" of an organ
of capsulecapsule:
a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels
, many seeded. Pericarppericarp:
fruit wall or fruit coat
orange, yellow or white, thickthick:
having or being of relatively great depth
, fleshyfleshy:
texture—fairly firm and dense, juicy or at least moist, and easily cut
, roughenedroughened:
texture—having a small, stout, stiff, more or less acute protrusions
, ribbedribbed:
surface relief—wide, prominent, linear ridges that are generally rounded and longitudinally situated on the surface
or papillatepapillate:
surface relief—bearing minute, distinct, broad-based projections, tapering to a rounded apex
.

Seed ellipsoidellipsoid:
3D shape—elliptic
, ovoidovoid:
3D shape—ovate
, oblongoblong:
2D shape—much longer than broad with nearly parallel sides, corners are rounded
, 0.3–0.5 mm long, with long funicles. Seed coat brown, loose, thinthin:
having or being of relatively little depth
, reticulatereticulate:
surface relief—netted, raised walls or concave grooves forming a net-like surface pattern with flat, concave, or convex interspaces
or ribbedribbed:
surface relief—wide, prominent, linear ridges that are generally rounded and longitudinally situated on the surface
.

Embryo miniature. Endospermendosperm:
nutritive starch- and oil-containing tissue present in many seeds
absent.

Identification features

Fruit
Type	capsulecapsule: a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels
Size range	1.5–6 mm long
Shape(s)	hemispherical, conical
Texture	fleshyfleshy: texture—fairly firm and dense, juicy or at least moist, and easily cut
Surface relief	roughened, ribbedribbed: surface relief—wide, prominent, linear ridges that are generally rounded and longitudinally situated on the surface , papillate
Color(s)	orange, yellow or white
Unique features	Small, bright colored, fleshyfleshy: texture—fairly firm and dense, juicy or at least moist, and easily cut , circumscissilecircumscissile: (~pyxis); type of capsular dehiscence, opens by a lid (splitting transversely) capsulescapsule: a dry, dehiscent fruit formed by two or more carpels , with perianthperianth: collective term for calyx and corolla of a flower and stylestyle: in a flower, the narrow and elongated part of the pistil between the stigma and the ovary; sometimes persisting in fruit persistent at the apicesapex: the point farthest from the point of attachment, or the "tip" of an organ .
Seed
Size range	0.3–0.5 mm long
Shape(s)	ellipsoid, ovoidovoid: 3D shape—ovate , oblong
Surface relief	reticulate, ribbed
Color(s)	brown
Unique features	Minute, brown seeds with a loose, reticulatereticulate: surface relief—netted, raised walls or concave grooves forming a net-like surface pattern with flat, concave, or convex interspaces or ribbedribbed: surface relief—wide, prominent, linear ridges that are generally rounded and longitudinally situated on the surface seed coats.
Other
Embryo	miniature
Nutritive tissuenutritive tissue: tissue within the seeds that nourishes the developing embryo; such as endosperm, perisperm, or chalazosperm in angiosperms; megagametophyte in gymnosperms	endosperm endosperm: nutritive starch- and oil-containing tissue present in many seeds absent

Distribution

Southeastern Asia, Africa, America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Distribution map courtesy of Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.

References

Baskin and Baskin 2021Baskin and Baskin 2021:
Baskin C and Baskin J. 2021. Relationship of the lateral embryo (in grasses) to other monocot embryos: A status up-grade. Seed Science Research 31 (3): 199-210. doi:10.1017/S0960258521000209; Cowley 1988Cowley 1988:
Cowley EJ. 1988. Burmanniaceae. In: Polhill RM, ed. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Vol 25. AA Balkema, Rotterdam Netherlands. 9 pp.; Dahlgren et al. 1985Dahlgren et al. 1985:
Dahlgren RMT, Clifford HT, and Yeo PF. 1985. The families of the monocotyledons: structure, evolution, and taxonomy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 520 pp.; Davidse et al. 2009–2018Davidse et al. 2009–2018:
Davidse GM, Sousa Sánchez M, Knapp S. and Chiang Cabrera F, eds. 2009–2018. Flora Mesoamericana. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO. Accessed: January–April 2024. URL: http://legacy.tropicos.org/Project/FM; Kirkbride et al. 2006Kirkbride et al. 2006:
Kirkbride JH, Jr, Gunn CR, and Dallwitz MJ. 2006. Family guide for fruits and seeds, vers. 1.0. Accessed September 2020-January 2022. URL: https://nt.ars-grin.gov/seedsfruits/keys/frsdfam/index.cfm .; Kubitzki et al. 1990+Kubitzki et al. 1990+:
Kubitzki K et al., eds. 1990+. The families and genera of vascular plants. 7+ vols. Berlin etc.; Nooteboom et al. 2021; PlantNET 2021; Stevenson and Loconte 1995Stevenson and Loconte 1995:
Stevenson DW and Loconte H. 1995. A cladistic analysis of monocot families. In: Rudall PJ, Cribb PJ, Cutler DF, and Humphries CJ, eds. Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.; Takhtajan 2009Takhtajan 2009:
Takhtajan A. 2009. Flowering plants: Second edition. Springer Nature, Switzerland. 871 pp.; Watson and Dallwitz 1992+Watson and Dallwitz 1992+:
Watson L and Dallwitz MJ. 1992+. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 6th Accessed September 2020-September 2022. URL: delta-intkey.com; Zhengyi et al. 2004+Zhengyi et al. 2004+:
Zhengyi W, Raven PH, and Deyuan H. 2004+. Flora of China [online]. 25 vols. Science Press, Beijing China & Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis USA. Accessed January–March 2024. http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/

*The number of genera and species is based on Christenhusz and Byng 2016Christenhusz and Byng 2016:
Christenhusz MJM and Byng JW. 2016. The number of known plant species in the world and its annual increase. Phytotaxa 261 (3): 201-217. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1, which may differ from the number of genera in GRIN-Global.