View source for Loasaceae

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Loasaceae (from the genus Loasa, the meaning unknown). Loasa Family. Fig. 41. Erect or climbing herbs, rarely shrubby, with very peculiar and characteristic hairs, some hooked, some stinging: leaves opposite or alternate, very diverse: flowers bisexual, regular, mostly perigynous (i.e., receptacle usually extended beyond the ovary); sepals 4-5, imbricated; petals 4-5, flat or cucullate; stamens 4-5, alternating with the petals, or more commonly very numerous through doubling, the outer often converted into staminodia which resemble the petals; ovary usually inferior, and 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentae; ovules numerous: fruit a capsule, rarely indehiscent, often spirally constructed.

There are 13 genera and about 120 species confined to America from the Great Plains to Chile; most abundant in South America. This is a distinct family distantly related to the Passifloraceae and the Begoniaceae. The very peculiar hairs constitute a good recognition character. On Mentzelia there are three types of hairs: (1) Chinese pagoda-like, broad at the base; (2) tuberculate stem and harpoon-like top; (3) smooth stem and harpoon top. The flowers with many staminodia are often large and cactus-like. Very queer, grotesque, complex scales are produced in the flowers of certain genera (e. g., Loasa) through the union of several staminodia.

Mentzelia hispida is a strong purgative, and is used by the Mexicans for syphilis.

A few genera are in cultivation in North America. Of these, Loasa is like a nettle, and the sting is very painful, but the flowers are queer and interesting. Mentzelia comprises a number of garden annuals or biennials often with large showy flowers.

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==Genera==

==Gallery==
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==References==
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

==External links==
*{{wplink}}

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[[Category:Plant families]]