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Synonyms: Anagallidaceae Batsch ex Borkh.; Coridaceae J. Agardh; Lysimachiaceae Juss.; Samolaceae Raf.
Common name: Primrose Family.
Number of genera 21. Number of species 800.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; capsule; pyxidium capsule (Lysimachieae), or denticidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; within accessory organ(s); within calyx; accrescent; persistent; more than 1 but less than 10-seeded to many-seeded (more or less); 2-seeded (to more or less many); 5-carpellate (4–9); with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; glabrous (without hairs) (assumed); without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without grooves; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent, or present (Primula); an arillike structure. Arillike structure falling with seed an elaisome (Primula). Seed minute; 1 to less than 5 mm long; 1.7–2 mm long (at least); irregular, or angular, or oblong; in transection terete, or triangular, or squared, or compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; surface unsmooth; surface with discreet raised features, or merged raised features; surface papillate, or verrucose; surface reticulate; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; brown (all shades); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Hilum larger than punctate; basal, or marginal. Endosperm development nuclear; copious; fleshy, or fleshy-firm; semi- transparent; smooth; without starch; with oils, proteins, and amylose; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 0.4–0.9 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons, or with 1 cotyledon (Cyclamen). Cotyledons 2; well developed, or moderately developed; 0.2–0.5 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle, or as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1–1.7 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; partially concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle small, or moderately developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan (nearly). New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Mabberley: Primuleae & Cyclamineae (capsule with valves); Lycimachieae (capsule with valves or circumscissle); Samoleae with Samolus only (fruit not listed); Corideae with Coris only (Spjut noted denticidal capsule).
Weed information
1 or more USA state noxious weeds.
USA states and territories with listed noxious weeds: Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA), Washington (WA).
USA state and territory noxious weeds: -- Lysimachia nummularia L.: USA state noxious weed: MA●. -- Lysimachia vulgaris L.: USA state noxious weed: CT●, WAª●. -- Symbols: ªaquatic weed; ●terrestrial weed; °weed in seed. -- Last updated September 2008.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Primula auricula L. -- Primula × polyantha Hort. -- Primula L. spp. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Anagallis arvensis L.f -- Cyclamen persicum Mill.f -- Lysimachia chenopodioides G. Watt ex Hook. f. -- Primula acaulis (L.) Hill = Primula vulgaris Huds. -- Primula auricula L.f -- Primula cortusoides L. -- Primula denticulata Sm.f -- Primula elatior (L.) Hillf -- Primula japonica A. Grayf -- Primula × kewensis W. Watsonf -- Primula malacoides Franch.f -- Primula obconica Hancef -- Primula officinalis (L.) Hill = Primula veris L. -- Primula praenitens Ker Gawl.f -- Primula sinensis Sabine ex Lindl., non Lour. = Primula praenitens Ker Gawl. -- Primula veris L.f -- Primula vulgaris Huds.f -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Anagallis L. -- Androsace L. -- Ardisiandra Hook. f. -- Bryocarpum Hook. f. & Thomson -- Coris L. -- Cortusa L. -- Cyclamen L. -- Dionysia Fenzl -- Dodecatheon L. -- Douglasia Lindl., nom. cons. -- Glaux L. -- Hottonia L. -- Kaufmannia Regel -- Lysimachia L. -- Omphalogramma (Franch.) Franch. -- Pelletiera A. St.-Hil. -- Pomatosace Maxim. -- Primula L. -- Samolus L. -- Soldanella L. -- Stimpsonia C. Wright ex A. Gray -- Trientalis L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 517.
General references
Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Hooker, J.D. 1873 and forward. Icones Plantarum. William & Norgate, London. (plate number cited in text within [ ]), LeMaout, E. and J. Decaisne. 1876. A general system of botany, 1,065 p. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182, Wood, C.E., Jr. 1974. A student's atlas of flowering plants: Some dicotyledons of eastern North America, 120 pp. Harper and Row, New York.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Wood, Jr., Hooker [3357]. Seed illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Wood, Jr., Nasir (1985), Hooker [3357]. Embryo illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Wood, Jr., Hooker [3357], Martin.
• Seed. 1 of 5. Anagallis pumila Sw.: seeds. • Fruit. 2 of 5. Lysimachia davurica Ledeb.: dehisced fruit with calyx. • Seed. 3 of 5. Lysimachia davurica Ledeb.: seeds. • Seed. 4 of 5. Primula modesta Bisset & S. Moore: seeds. • Embryo. 5 of 5. Primula veris L.: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
