Difference between revisions of "Acanthaceae"

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{{Taxobox
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__NOTOC__{{Plantbox
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| color = lightgreen
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| name = ''Acanthaceae''
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| name = Acanthaceae
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| common_names = Acanthus Family
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| color = IndianRed
 
| image = Odontonema flwrs.jpg
 
| image = Odontonema flwrs.jpg
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| image_width = 250px
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| image_width = 240px    <!--- leave as 240px if horizontal orientation photo, or change to 180px if vertical -->
 
| image_caption = Flowers of ''Odontonema cuspidatum''
 
| image_caption = Flowers of ''Odontonema cuspidatum''
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| regnum = [[Plantae]]
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| regnum = Plantae
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| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
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| divisio = Magnoliophyta
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| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
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| classis = Magnoliopsida
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| ordo = [[Lamiales]]
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| ordo = Lamiales
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| familia = '''Acanthaceae'''
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| familia = Acanthaceae
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| familia_authority = [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu|Juss.]]
 
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| type_genus = ''[[Acanthus (genus)|Acanthus]]''
 
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| type_genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
 
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| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
 
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| subdivision = See text.
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Inc|
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Acanthaceae (from the genus Acanthus, derived from the Greek, a spine; some of the plants are spiny). Acanthus Family. Fig. 54. Herbs, or rarely shrubs or trees: leaves opposite, rarely whorled: flowers bisexual, irregular, usually bilabiate; calyx 5-cleft; corolla 5-lobed, gamopetalous, hypogynous, the lobes imbricated; stamens usually 4, didynamous, rarely 2, sometimes a staminodium present, epipetalous; hypogynous disk present, mostly small; ovary superior, 2-celled, each cell 2-4-, rarely many-, ovuled; style 1; stigmas 1-2, one lobe often small or wanting: fruit a capsule; seeds exalbuminous, aided in distribution by peculiar outgrowths of the funiculus.
  
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The family '''Acanthaceae''' (or '''Acanthus family''') is a taxon of [[dicotyledon]]ous [[flowering plant]]s containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species.  
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Acanthaceae has 173 genera and about 1,500 species, of tropical distribution. Few species extend into the Mediterranean region and into the United States. Six species are found in the northeastern United States. Two hundred species belong to the genus Ruellia, and 250 to Justicia. The family is related to the Bignoniaceae, and to the Scrophulariaceae, as well as to the other families of this group. The 2-celled ovary with 2-4 ovules and the queer outgrowths of the funiculus are distinctive.
  
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Most are [[tropical]] [[herb]]s, shrubs, or twining vines; some are [[epiphytes]]. Only a few species are distributed in [[temperate]] regions.  The four main centres of distribution are [[Indonesia]] and [[Malaysia]], [[Africa]], [[Brasil]] and [[Central America]]. The representatives of the family can be found in nearly every [[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]], including dense or open [[forests]], in [[Scrubland|scrublands]], on wet fields and valleys, at the sea coast and in marine areas, and in [[swamps]] and as an element of [[mangrove]] woods.
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Many species are used in the tropics for medicine; for example, Asteracantha longifolia, a purge and sudorific; Justicia Gendarussa, astringent, used in India for rheumatism, and the leaves sprinkled in clothing to keep insects away; Justicia pectoralis, used for lung troubles. The young flowers of Blepharis edulis and Asystasia gangetica are eaten as vegetables. Ruellia ciliosa of the United States has recently been sold spuriously as Spigelia (pink root).
  
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[[Image:Starr 021122 0083 justicia aurea.jpg|left|thumb|''[[Justicia aurea]]'']]
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Twenty to 30 genera are in cultivation in N. America, except in a few cases, as ornamental greenhouse plants. Among these are: Acanthus (Bear's Breech), hardy herbs; Adhatoda, shrubs; Aphelandra, shrubs; Crossandra, shrub; Fittonia, herbs; Graptophyllum (Caricature Plant), shrubs; Jacobinia, herbs; Justicia, referred to other genera; Peristrophe; Ruellia, herbs or shrubs; Strobilanthes, often used also for bedding.{{SCH}}
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Plants in this family have simple, opposite, decussate [[leaf|leaves]] with entire (or sometimes toothed, lobed, or spiny) margins, and without stipules. The leaves may contain cystoliths, or calcium carbonate concretions, seen as streaks on the surface. The [[flower]]s are perfect, zygomorphic to nearly actinomorphic, these arranged in an [[inflorescence]] that is either a [[raceme|spike]], [[raceme]], or cyme. Typically there is a colorful bract subtending each flower; in some species the bract is large and showy. The calyx is usually 4-5 lobed; the corolla tubular, 2-lipped or 5-lobed; [[stamen]]s either 2 or 4 arranged in pairs and inserted on the corolla; and the [[carpel|ovary]] superior, 2-carpellate, with axile placentation. The [[fruit]] is a two-celled [[capsule (fruit)|capsule]], dehiscing somewhat explosively. In most species, the [[seed]]s are attached to a small, hooked stalk (a modified ''funiculus'' called a ''jaculator'') that ejects them from the capsule.     
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}}
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A species well-known to temperate gardeners is ''[[Acanthus (genus)|Acanthus]] mollis'' or Bear's breeches, a herbaceous perennial plant with big leaves and flower spikes up to 2 m tall. Tropical genera familiar to gardeners include ''[[Thunbergia]]'' and ''[[Justicia]]''.
 
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''[[Avicennia]]'', usually placed in [[Verbenaceae]] or in its own family, [[Avicenniaceae]], is included in Acanthaceae by the [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]] on the basis of molecular phylogenetic studies that show it to be associated with this family.
 
  
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==Selected genera==
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==Genera==
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There are 246 accepted genera according to  [[Germplasm Resources Information Network]] (GRIN).
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There are 246 accepted genera according to  [[Germplasm Resources Information Network]] (GRIN){{wp}}.
 
{|
 
{|
 
|- valign=top
 
|- valign=top
 
|
 
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* ''[[Acanthopale]]'' C.B.Clarke
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* ''[[Acanthopale]]''
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* ''[[Acanthopsis]]'' Harv.
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* ''[[Acanthopsis]]''  
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* ''[[Acanthostelma]]'' Bidgood & Brummitt
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* ''[[Acanthostelma]]''  
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* ''[[Acanthura]]'' Lindau
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* ''[[Acanthura]]''  
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* ''[[Acanthus (genus)|Acanthus]]'' L. (Bear's Breech)
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* ''[[Acanthus (genus)|Acanthus]]'' (Bear's Breech)
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* ''[[Achyrocalyx]]'' Benoist
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* ''[[Achyrocalyx]]''  
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* ''[[Adhatoda]]'' Mill. (sometimes included in ''Justicia'')
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* ''[[Adhatoda]]'' (sometimes included in ''Justicia'')
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* ''[[Afrofittonia]]'' Lindau
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* ''[[Afrofittonia]]''  
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* ''[[Ambongia]]'' Benoist
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* ''[[Ambongia]]''  
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* ''[[Ancistranthus]]'' Lindau (Desert Honeysuckle)
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* ''[[Ancistranthus]]'' (Desert Honeysuckle)
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* ''[[Ancistrostylis]]'' T.Yamaz.
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* ''[[Ancistrostylis]]''  
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* ''[[Andrographis]]'' Wall. ex Nees (False Waterwillow)
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* ''[[Andrographis]]'' (False Waterwillow)
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* ''[[Angkalanthus]]'' Balf.f.
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* ''[[Angkalanthus]]''
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* ''[[Anisacanthus]]'' Nees
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* ''[[Anisacanthus]]''  
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* ''[[Anisosepalum]]'' E.Hossain
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* ''[[Anisosepalum]]''
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* ''[[Anisostachya]]'' Nees (sometimes included in ''Justicia'')
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* ''[[Anisostachya]]'' (sometimes included in ''Justicia'')
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* ''[[Anisotes]]'' Nees
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* ''[[Anisotes]]''  
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* ''[[Anomacanthus]]'' R.D.Good
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* ''[[Anomacanthus]]''  
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* ''[[Apassalus]]'' Kobuski
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* ''[[Apassalus]]''  
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* ''[[Aphanosperma]]'' T.F.Daniel
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* ''[[Aphanosperma]]''  
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* ''[[Aphelandra]]'' R.Br.
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* ''[[Aphelandra]]''  
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* ''[[Aphelandrella]]'' Mildbr.
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* ''[[Aphelandrella]]''
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* ''[[Ascotheca]]'' Heine
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* ''[[Ascotheca]]''
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* ''[[Asystasia]]'' Blume
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* ''[[Asystasia]]''  
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* ''[[Asystasiella]]'' Lindau
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* ''[[Asystasiella]]''  
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* ''[[Ballochia]]'' Balf.f.
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* ''[[Ballochia]]''  
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* ''[[Barleria]]'' L. (Bush violets)
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* ''[[Barleria]]'' (Bush violets)
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* ''[[Barleriola]]'' Oerst.
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* ''[[Barleriola]]''  
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* ''[[Benoicanthus]]'' Heine & A.Raynal
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* ''[[Benoicanthus]]''  
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* ''[[Blechum]]'' P. Browne
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* ''[[Blechum]]''
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* ''[[Blepharis]]'' Juss.
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* ''[[Blepharis]]''  
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* ''[[Borneacanthus]]'' Bremek.
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* ''[[Borneacanthus]]''
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* ''[[Boutonia]]'' DC.
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* ''[[Boutonia]]''  
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* ''[[Brachystephanus]]'' Nees
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* ''[[Brachystephanus]]''
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* ''[[Bravaisia]]'' DC.
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* ''[[Bravaisia]]''  
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* ''[[Brillantaisia]]'' P.Beauv.
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* ''[[Brillantaisia]]''  
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* ''[[Calacanthus]]'' T.Anderson ex Benth. & Hook. f.
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* ''[[Calacanthus]]''  
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* ''[[Calophanoides]]'' (C.B.Clarke) Ridl. (sometimes included in ''Justicia'')
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* ''[[Calophanoides]]'' (sometimes included in ''Justicia'')
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* ''[[Calycacanthus]]'' K. Schum.
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* ''[[Calycacanthus]]''
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* ''[[Camarotea]]'' Scott-Elliot
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* ''[[Camarotea]]''  
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* ''[[Carlowrightia]]'' A.Gray (Wrightwort)
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* ''[[Carlowrightia]]'' (Wrightwort)
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* ''[[Celrina (genus)|Celerina]]'' Benoist
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* ''[[Celrina (genus)|Celerina]]''  
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* ''[[Cephalacanthus]]'' Lindau
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* ''[[Cephalacanthus]]''  
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* ''[[Chaetacanthus]]'' Nees
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* ''[[Chaetacanthus]]''  
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* ''[[Chalarothyrsus]]'' Lindau
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* ''[[Chalarothyrsus]]''  
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* ''[[Chamaeranthemum]]'' Nees
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* ''[[Chamaeranthemum]]''  
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* ''[[Championella]]'' Bremek.
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* ''[[Championella]]''  
 
* ''[[Chileranthemum]]'' Oerst.  
 
* ''[[Chileranthemum]]'' Oerst.  
 
* ''[[Chlamydacanthus]]'' Lindau (sometimes included in ''Theileamea'')
 
* ''[[Chlamydacanthus]]'' Lindau (sometimes included in ''Theileamea'')
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|}
 
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==Photo Gallery==
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==Gallery==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
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Image:Acanthaceae_leaf.jpg|Leaf of the Acanthaceae "Nerve Plant", ''Fittonia verschaffeltii''
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Image:Starr 021122 0083 justicia aurea.jpg|''[[Justicia aurea]]''
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Image:Starr 011104 0065 asystasia gangetica.jpg|Chinese Violet (''[[Asystasia gangetica]]'')
 
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Image:Peristrophe speciosa1.jpg|''Peristrophe speciosa''
 
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Image:2006_08_14_Hypoestes_Phyllostachya.jpg | ([[Polka Dot]] Plant) ''[[Hypoestes]] Phyllostachya''
 
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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{{Reflist}}
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*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
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*{{cite journal| author=Schwarzbach, Andrea E. and McDade, Lucinda A.|title= Phylogenetic relationships of the mangrove family ''Avicenniaceae'' based on chloroplast and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences|journal= Systematic Botany|volume= 27|pages=84&ndash;98|year=2002}}
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
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*[http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/acanthac.htm Acanthaceae] in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.
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*{{wplink}}
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*[http://tolweb.org/Acanthaceae/20878 Tree of Life Acanthaceae]
 
  
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{{stub}}
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[[Category:Categorize]]
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[[Category:Plant families]]
 
[[Category:Acanthaceae]]
 
[[Category:Acanthaceae]]
 
[[Category:Lamiales]]
 
[[Category:Lamiales]]
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[[Category:Plant families]]
 

Latest revision as of 17:44, 19 May 2009


Flowers of Odontonema cuspidatum


Plant Characteristics
Cultivation
Scientific Names

Acanthaceae >



Read about Acanthaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Acanthaceae (from the genus Acanthus, derived from the Greek, a spine; some of the plants are spiny). Acanthus Family. Fig. 54. Herbs, or rarely shrubs or trees: leaves opposite, rarely whorled: flowers bisexual, irregular, usually bilabiate; calyx 5-cleft; corolla 5-lobed, gamopetalous, hypogynous, the lobes imbricated; stamens usually 4, didynamous, rarely 2, sometimes a staminodium present, epipetalous; hypogynous disk present, mostly small; ovary superior, 2-celled, each cell 2-4-, rarely many-, ovuled; style 1; stigmas 1-2, one lobe often small or wanting: fruit a capsule; seeds exalbuminous, aided in distribution by peculiar outgrowths of the funiculus.

Acanthaceae has 173 genera and about 1,500 species, of tropical distribution. Few species extend into the Mediterranean region and into the United States. Six species are found in the northeastern United States. Two hundred species belong to the genus Ruellia, and 250 to Justicia. The family is related to the Bignoniaceae, and to the Scrophulariaceae, as well as to the other families of this group. The 2-celled ovary with 2-4 ovules and the queer outgrowths of the funiculus are distinctive.

Many species are used in the tropics for medicine; for example, Asteracantha longifolia, a purge and sudorific; Justicia Gendarussa, astringent, used in India for rheumatism, and the leaves sprinkled in clothing to keep insects away; Justicia pectoralis, used for lung troubles. The young flowers of Blepharis edulis and Asystasia gangetica are eaten as vegetables. Ruellia ciliosa of the United States has recently been sold spuriously as Spigelia (pink root).

Twenty to 30 genera are in cultivation in N. America, except in a few cases, as ornamental greenhouse plants. Among these are: Acanthus (Bear's Breech), hardy herbs; Adhatoda, shrubs; Aphelandra, shrubs; Crossandra, shrub; Fittonia, herbs; Graptophyllum (Caricature Plant), shrubs; Jacobinia, herbs; Justicia, referred to other genera; Peristrophe; Ruellia, herbs or shrubs; Strobilanthes, often used also for bedding.CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Genera

There are 246 accepted genera according to Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)wp.

Gallery

References

External links

  1. ↑ Wortley, A.H., Harris, D.J. & Scotland, R.W. (2007). "On the Taxonomy and Phylogenetic Position of Thomandersia.". Systematic Botany 32 (2): 415-444. doi:10.1600/036364407781179716. 
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