View source for Agavaceae

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Agavaceae
|accepted_authority=Dumortier
|publications=
|common_names=Agave or Century Plant Family
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Agavaceae
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Agavaceae]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 26
|mention_page=page 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 51, 303, 414
|treatment_page=page 413
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-d0_s0" data-properties="whole_organism duration;whole_organism habitat;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism reproduction;whole_organism size;whole_organism architecture;whole_organism growth form"><b>Plants </b>usually perennial, occasionally epiphytic, sometimes monocarpic or polycarpic, monoecious, dioecious, or polygamodioecious, small to gigantic, sometimes arborescent, usually scapose.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s1" data-properties="stem location;stem location;stem architecture"><b>Stems </b>subterranean or aboveground, sometimes branched.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s2" data-properties="leaf architecture;leaf duration;leaf duration;leaf architecture;leaf architecture;leaf position"><b>Leaves </b>simple, annual or long-lived, in terminal rosettes or occasionally cauline, sessile or occasionally pseudopetiolate;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s3" data-properties="blade shape;blade shape;blade shape;blade shape;blade shape;blade shape;blade shape;blade texture;blade width;blade fragility;blade width;blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;blade pubescence;margin architecture or shape;margin architecture or shape;margin architecture or shape;margin shape;margin texture;margin architecture;apex texture;apex fragility;apex odor or shape;spine height or length or size;spine length or size">blade linear, lanceolate, oblanceolate, ovate, or elliptic, fibrous, thin and flexible, thick and rigid or succulent, or fibrous, often glaucous, margins entire, serrulate, dentate, denticulate, corneous, or filiferous, apex rigid or flexible, sometimes pungent, often with short or long spine.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s4" data-properties="inflorescence arrangement;inflorescence arrangement;inflorescence architecture;inflorescence architecture;inflorescence size"><b>Inflorescences </b>terminal or axillary spikes, racemose or paniculate, sometimes umbellate, bracteate, often huge;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s5" data-properties="bract orientation;bract orientation;bract orientation;bract architecture or shape;bract shape">bracts ascending or erect, occasionally reflexed, leaflike proximally, scalelike distally.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s6" data-properties="flower architecture;flower reproduction;flower reproduction"><b>Flowers </b>6-merous, bisexual or functionally unisexual;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s7" data-properties="perianth texture;whorl quantity;whorl shape">perianth of 2 similar petallike whorls, semisucculent;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s8" data-properties="tepal fusion;tepal fusion;apex pubescence;apex pubescence">tepals distinct or connate into tube, apex glandular or glandular-pubescent;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s9" data-properties="stamen position;stamen position">stamens included or exserted;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s10" data-properties="filament width;filament texture;filament pubescence;filament pubescence;filament relief">filaments often broadened and succulent, glabrous, pubescent, or papillose;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s11" data-properties="anther fixation;anther dehiscence">anthers versatile, dehiscence longitudinal;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s12" data-properties="ovary position;ovary position;ovary architecture or structure in adjective form;ovary architecture or structure in adjective form;ovary shape;ovary shape;ovary shape;ovary shape;ovary shape;ovary placentation">ovary superior or inferior, 3-locular or occasionally 1-locular, 3-angled, ovoid, or cylindrical, with axillary or rarely parietal placentation;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s13" data-properties="style position;style position">style included or exserted;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s14" data-properties="stigma shape;stigma shape;stigma quantity;stigma quantity">stigmas 1 or 3, 3-lobed or capitate;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s15" data-properties="pedicel fusion;pedicel architecture;pedicel architecture;pedicel presence">pedicel usually distinct, articulate or not, rarely absent.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s16" data-properties="fruit architecture;fruit architecture;fruit architecture;fruit shape;fruit dehiscence;fruit texture;fruit texture"><b>Fruits </b>occasionally baccate, usually capsular and sometimes winged or lobed, or indehiscent and dry or fleshy.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s17" data-properties="seed quantity;seed shape;seed shape;seed shape;seed shape;seed shape;seed shape;seed shape;seed shape"><b>Seeds </b>1–3 (–many) per locule, flattened, 3-angled, hemispheric, ovoid, obovoid, or globose.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Worldwide;primarily arid;semitropical;subtropical;and tropical regions
|discussion=<p>Genera 17 or 18, species ca. 550 (9 genera, 84 species in the flora; 2 genera, 6 species introduced).</p><!--
--><p>There is little agreement on the treatment of Agavaceae. The group containing Agave, Yucca, Furcraea, Hesperaloe, and Manfreda generally has been accepted as the core of Agavaceae, or as subfamilies Agavoideae and Yuccoideae, but treatment of Dracaena, Sansevieria, Cordyline, Nolina, and Dasylirion has been varied. A. L. Takhtajan (1987) and R. F. Thorne (1992b) placed these genera in Dracaenaceae but treated them at different levels. Takhtajan located them in the subfamily Dracaenoideae within sections Nolineae (Nolina and Dasylirion), Sansevierieae (Sansevieria), and Dracaeneae (Cordyline and Dracaena). Thorne, on the other hand, placed these same groupings at the subfamily level. R. M. T. Dahlgren et al. (1985) recognized them as separate families, Nolinaceae (Nolina and Dasylirion), Dracaenaceae (Sansevieria and Dracaena), and Asteliaceae (Cordyline), in addition to the Agavaceae (Yucca, Hesperaloe, Agave, Manfreda, and Furcraea).</p><!--
--><p>A. Cronquist (1981) based his broadly circumscribed Agavaceae on a common xerophytic habit. However, the karyotype of 5 long and 25 short chromosomes for the Agavoideae and Yuccoideae is distinct from the karyotypes of the other subfamilies that Cronquist included in the Agavaceae. Current research on the phylogenetics of moncotyledons, using DNA sequences of rbcL, support the separation of Dracaena, Nolina, and Dasylirion from Agavaceae (M. R. Duvall et al. 1993b). We believe that a broad interpretation of the Agavaceae unites groups that should be recognized as separate.</p><!--
--><p>Many genera in Agavaceae are economically important. All genera in the Agavoideae and Yuccoideae contain steroidal sapogenins; some have been used in folk medicine, and locally and commercially as soap (G. Blunden et al. 1978; S. E. Verhoek 1978; M. Wall et al. 1957). They provide fibers for cordage, baskets, and hats, as well as food and drink for many indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States (H. S. Gentry 1982). They are also used as commercial fiber and beverage crops in Latin America and the Old World (H. Brucher 1989). In the southern United States, some species in each genus are cultivated and represented in the flora, and at least one species of Yucca is now grown as far north as Canada. Collectors should record the uses of these plants in their notes along with the critical information on plant habit and morphology. Photographs are often important tools for the identification of these plants, and, with the advent of digital cameras, are now much easier to obtain and process.</p>
|tables=
|references=
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--><div class="treatment-key">
==Key==
<div class="treatment-key-group">
  
{| class="wikitable fna-keytable"
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Ovary inferior.
|[[#key-0-2| > 2]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Ovary superior.
|[[#key-0-4| > 4]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Stems subterranean; leaf apex flexible.
|[[Manfreda|Manfreda]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Stems aboveground; leaf apex rigid.
|[[#key-0-3| > 3]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Leaf apex abruptly narrowed, with long spine; flowers erect or recurved; style subulate, filaments filiform.
|[[Agave|Agave]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Leaf apex blunt; flowers drooping; style and filaments abruptly swollen in proximal half.
|[[Furcraea|Furcraea]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Flowers functionally unisexual; fruits capsular; tepals no longer than 5 mm.
|[[#key-0-5| > 5]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Flowers bisexual; fruits capsular or baccate; tepals longer than 5 mm.
|[[#key-0-6| > 6]]
|-id=key-0-5
|5
|Capsules 3-locular, dehiscent; seeds globose; leaf blade not fibrous, margins entire or serrulate.
|[[Nolina|Nolina]]
|-id=key-0-5
|5
|Capsules 1-locular, indehiscent; seeds 3-angled; leaf blade fibrous, margins with sharp, curved prickles.
|[[Dasylirion|Dasylirion]]
|-id=key-0-6
|6
|Fruits baccate; seeds 1–3.
|[[Sansevieria|Sansevieria]]
|-id=key-0-6
|6
|Fruits capsular, rarely baccate; seeds many.
|[[#key-0-7| > 7]]
|-id=key-0-7
|7
|Perianth narrowly tubular to broadly campanulate; filaments glabrous; capsules ovoid.
|[[Hesperaloe|Hesperaloe]]
|-id=key-0-7
|7
|Perianth campanulate or globose; filaments smooth or papillose; capsules almost never ovoid.
|[[#key-0-8| > 8]]
|-id=key-0-8
|8
|Fruits erect or pendent, usually indehiscent, occasionally dehiscent and septicidal; scape usually less than 2.5 cm diam.; bracts usually ascending.
|[[Yucca|Yucca]]
|-id=key-0-8
|8
|Fruits erect, dehiscent and loculidical; scape usually more than 2.5 cm diam.; bracts usually reflexed.
|[[Hesperoyucca|Hesperoyucca]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Agavaceae
|author=Susan Verhoek;William J. Hess
|authority=Dumortier
|rank=family
|parent rank=
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Agavaceae
|illustrator=Bee F. Gunn
|illustration copyright=Flora of North America Association
|distribution=Worldwide;primarily arid;semitropical;subtropical;and tropical regions
|reference=None
|publication title=
|publication year=
|special status=
|source xml=https://bibilujan@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-fine-grained-xml.git/src/84153f6d59a0a91d69695978a64cee7560374f8e/V26/V26_848.xml
|anther dehiscence=longitudinal
|anther fixation=versatile
|apex fragility=pliable
|apex odor or shape=pungent
|apex pubescence=glandular-pubescent;glandular
|apex texture=rigid
|blade fragility=pliable
|blade pubescence=glaucous
|blade shape=elliptic;ovate;elliptic;ovate;oblanceolate;lanceolate;linear
|blade texture=fibrous;succulent;rigid;fibrous;succulent;rigid;fibrous
|blade width=thick;thin
|bract architecture or shape=leaflike
|bract orientation=reflexed;erect;ascending
|bract shape=scale-like
|filament pubescence=pubescent;glabrous
|filament relief=papillose
|filament texture=succulent
|filament width=broadened
|flower architecture=6-merous
|flower reproduction=unisexual;bisexual
|fruit architecture=winged;capsular;baccate
|fruit dehiscence=indehiscent
|fruit shape=lobed
|fruit texture=fleshy;dry
|inflorescence architecture=bracteate;umbellate
|inflorescence arrangement=paniculate;racemose
|inflorescence size=huge
|leaf architecture=pseudopetiolate;sessile;simple
|leaf duration=long-lived;annual
|leaf position=cauline
|margin architecture=filiferous
|margin architecture or shape=dentate;serrulate;entire
|margin shape=denticulate
|margin texture=corneous
|ovary architecture or structure in adjective form=1-locular;3-locular
|ovary placentation=parietal
|ovary position=inferior;superior
|ovary shape=cylindrical;ovoid;cylindrical;ovoid;3-angled
|pedicel architecture=not;articulate
|pedicel fusion=distinct
|pedicel presence=absent
|perianth texture=semisucculent
|seed quantity=1;3
|seed shape=globose;obovoid;globose;obovoid;ovoid;hemispheric;3-angled;flattened
|spine height or length or size=short
|spine length or size=long
|stamen position=exserted;included
|stem architecture=branched
|stem location=aboveground;subterranean
|stigma quantity=3;1
|stigma shape=list;count
|style position=exserted;included
|tepal fusion=connate;distinct
|whole_organism architecture=scapose
|whole_organism duration=perennial
|whole_organism growth form=plant
|whole_organism habitat=epiphytic
|whole_organism reproduction=polygamodioecious;dioecious;monoecious;polycarpic;monocarpic;polygamodioecious;dioecious;monoecious;polycarpic;monocarpic;polygamodioecious;dioecious;monoecious;polycarpic;monocarpic;polygamodioecious;dioecious;monoecious;polycarpic;monocarpic
|whole_organism size=small;gigantic
|whorl quantity=2
|whorl shape=petal-like
}}<!--

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