Cistaceae

Abstract

Shrubs, subshrubs or herbs, often with stellate indumentum. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple, entire, often revolute, petiolate to sessile, stipulate or exstipulate; leaf venation pinnate, palmate, lnerved, or 3 more or less parallel veins. Flowers solitary or in cymose inflorescences, hermaphroditic, actinomorphic, hypogynous, chasmogamous or cleistogamous; sepals 3 or (4)5, when 5, the outer 2 often bract-like and narrower or shorter, or connate to the inner 3 prominent sepals, convolute, often persistent; petals yellow, white or reddish (maroon, pink, purplish, orange), free, (3)5 or 0 (cleistogamous flowers), convolute in bud in the opposite direction to that of the sepals, ephemeral or rarely marcescent; stamens numerous, or 3–10 (cleistogamous flowers, some annuals, Lechea), filaments distinct, sometimes sensitive; anthers basifixed, introrse, tetrasporangiate, 2-locular at anthesis, longitudinally dehiscent (sometimes apically in cleistogamous flowers); gynoecium (2)3–5(6–12)-carpellate; ovary 1- or imperfectly (2)3–5(6–12)-locular due to intruded parietal placentae; placentae filiform (shield-like); ovules 2-many on each placenta, orthotropous (anatropous, hemianatropous), bitegmic and crassinucellar; funicles well-developed; style simple, long to very short or wanting; stigma large and capitate or discoid, often lobed, seldom minute, or rarely stigmas 3 and fimbriate-plumose. Capsule loculicidal (septifragous), (2)3–5(6–12)-valved, upright or pendent, few- to many-seeded; often enveloped by persistent sepals. Seeds very small; seed coat of 2 integuments, the outer thin, sometimes gelatinous when moist, the inner very hard; endosperm starchy, nuclear, thin-walled; embryo curved, bent into a hook or ring, more or less circinately coiled, plicate or biplicate, rarely almost straight, central or more or less peripheral; cotyledons narrow to elliptical-orbicular, straight to strongly bent.