View source for Myrtaceae

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Myrtaceae
|accepted_authority=Jussieu
|publications=
|common_names=Myrtle Family
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Myrtaceae
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Myrtaceae]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 10
|mention_page=
|treatment_page=
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-d0_s0" data-properties="shrub reproduction;shrub growth form or habitat;shrub architecture;shrub growth form"><b>Trees,</b> shrubs, or subshrubs, usually synoecious, terrestrial, unarmed, occasionally clonal by root sprouts;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s1" data-properties="growth life cycle;growth architecture or function or pubescence;growth odor">young growth usually glandular, usually aromatic when crushed;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s2" data-properties="bark architecture or pubescence or relief;bark architecture or pubescence">trunk often with smooth or scaly bark;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s3" data-properties="hair architecture;hair architecture;hair architecture">hairs unicellular, simple or dibrachiate.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s4" data-properties=""><b>Leaves </b>usually persistent, opposite, alternate, or whorled, sometimes decussate, simple;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s5" data-properties="stipule derivation">without true stipules;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s6" data-properties="leaf duration;leaf arrangement;leaf arrangement;leaf arrangement;leaf arrangement;leaf arrangement;leaf arrangement;leaf architecture;leaf architecture">usually petiolate;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s7" data-properties="blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;blade texture;margin architecture or shape;margin shape">blade leathery, papery, or submembranous, margins entire, sometimes somewhat sinuate.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s8" data-properties="inflorescence position;inflorescence position;inflorescence position;flower architecture or arrangement or growth form"><b>Inflorescences </b>usually axillary, sometimes terminal or pseudoterminal, solitary flowers, dichasia, racemes, panicles, or spikes;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s9" data-properties="bract presence">bracts often present;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s10" data-properties="bracteole presence">bracteoles usually present.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s11" data-properties=""><b>Flowers </b>usually bisexual, rarely unisexual, (0–) 4 or 5 (–7) -merous, actinomorphic;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s12" data-properties="flower reproduction;flower reproduction;flower atypical quantity;flower quantity;flower architecture;flower architecture;flower position">usually epigynous, rarely semiepigynous;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s13" data-properties="hypanthium shape;hypanthium shape;hypanthium shape;hypanthium shape;hypanthium shape;hypanthium length">hypanthium obconic, cylindric, or cupshaped, sometimes prolonged beyond summit of ovary;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s14" data-properties="calyx lobe fusion;calyx lobe arrangement;calyx lobe fusion;unit architecture">calyx lobes distinct and, usually, imbricate, or fused in calyptra that falls as a unit or tears open;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s15" data-properties="petal fusion;petal arrangement;petal fusion;petal fusion;calyx lobe variability">petals distinct and imbricate, or fused with calyx, rarely coherent, usually equaling calyx lobes (when lobes distinct);</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s16" data-properties="style position relational">nectary glands, when present, produced on disc surrounding style;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s17" data-properties="stamen quantity">stamens 10–720;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s18" data-properties="anther fixation;anther fixation;anther dehiscence">anthers basifixed or dorsifixed, usually dehiscing by slits;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s19" data-properties="pistil quantity">pistil 1;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s20" data-properties="">ovary inferior (partially so in Melaleuca), 1–6 [–18] -locular and carpellate;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s21" data-properties="ovary position;ovary architecture or structure in adjective form;ovary architecture;ovary placentation;ovary position;ovary position;ovary position;ovary position">placentation axile, subapical, or basal;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s22" data-properties="style quantity">style 1;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s23" data-properties="stigma quantity">stigma 1;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s24" data-properties="ovule atypical quantity;ovule quantity;ovule arrangement;ovule architecture or arrangement;ovule architecture">ovules 2–300 (–500), usually biseriate or multiseriate, bitegmic.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s25" data-properties="capsule architecture or shape"><b>Fruits </b>berries, capsules with apical dehiscence, or nutlike.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s26" data-properties="seed quantity"><b>Seeds </b>1–100+;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s27" data-properties="seed-coat texture;seed-coat texture;seed-coat texture;seed-coat texture;seed-coat texture;seed-coat texture">seed-coat membranous, ± leathery, or hard and bony;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s28" data-properties="embryo texture;embryo coating">embryo starchy or oily;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s29" data-properties="endosperm quantity;endosperm presence">endosperm scant or absent.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=sw;s;se United States;Mexico;West Indies;Central America;South America;s;se Asia;Africa;Pacific Islands (Hawaii);Pacific Islands (New Guinea);Pacific Islands (Philippines);Australia;nearly worldwide in tropical;subtropical;and Mediterranean regions
|discussion=<p>Genera ca. 130, species ca. 6000 (13 genera, 38 species in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>Myrtaceae are apparently of Gondwanan origin with centers of diversity in tropical America and Australasia and with fewer species in Africa and southern Asia. Syzygium aromaticum (Linnaeus) Merrill & L. M. Perry (clove) and Pimenta dioica (Linnaeus) Merrill (allspice) are economically important spices; Psidium guajava (guava) is a common tropical fruit; species of Eucalyptus are widely planted for fast growing timber and as ornamentals. Melaleuca (including Callistemon) and other genera are planted as ornamentals with M. quinquenervia having become an invasive pest in Florida.</p><!--
--><p>Native and introduced genera of Myrtaceae in North America can be divided conveniently into two groups: those with dry fruit (Chamelaucium, Eucalyptus, Leptospermum, and Melaleuca) and those with fleshy fruit (Calyptranthes, Eugenia, Luma, Mosiera, Myrcianthes, Myrtus, Psidium, Rhodomyrtus, and Syzygium). This division based on fruit type has historically been the basis for recognizing subfamilies or tribes; molecular work shows that neither group is monophyletic. For the purposes of this treatment, the division based on fruit type will be retained, but without formal taxonomic standing. Among the fleshy-fruited genera, embryo structure has been taxonomically important. In the bony-seeded genera (Mosiera, Myrtus, Psidium, and Rhodomyrtus), the embryos are small and difficult to see. The <i>C</i>-shaped embryos in that group have small, leaflike or linear cotyledons equal to or shorter than the cylindrical hypocotyls. In other fleshy-fruited genera, it is usually possible to open the seed coat and see the embryo. In Eugenia, the embryo is mainly cotyledon tissue fused into a reniform to globose mass. In Myrcianthes and Syzygium, the cotyledons are similar to those of a bean and unfused and the hypocotyl is insignificant. In Calyptranthes, the cotyledons are leaflike and folded into a bundle and the equally long hypocotyl curls around the bundle. In Luma, the cotyledons are lenticular and pressed against each other and the hypocotyl about equals them in length.</p><!--
--><p>Recently, Pimenta dioica has been shown to be naturalized near Miami, Florida. It is most similar to Syzygium cumini (both have berry fruits and many-flowered panicle inflorescences). The two species are compared under 2. S. cumini.</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
|Fruits capsules or nutlike; leaves on mature stems mostly alternate (opposite in Chamelaucium and Melaleuca linariifolia); seeds usually 1–3 mm.
|[[#key-0-2| > 2]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Trees (sometimes large shrubs in E. conferruminata); perianth parts fused in calyptrae.
|[[Eucalyptus|Eucalyptus]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Shrubs or trees; perianth parts distinct.
|[[#key-0-3| > 3]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Inflorescences dense cylindrical clusters of flowers surrounding stems apically or subapically, as a bottlebrush; stamens several times longer than perianth.
|[[Melaleuca|Melaleuca]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Inflorescences clustered or flowers solitary, not forming bottlebrush; stamens about as long as perianth.
|[[#key-0-4| > 4]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Leaves opposite (decussate); style with a ring of hairs just below stigma; ovaries 1-locular; fruits nutlike.
|[[Chamelaucium|Chamelaucium]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Leaves alternate; style without a ring of hairs just below stigma; ovaries 6–12-locular; fruits capsules.
|[[Leptospermum|Leptospermum]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Fruits berries; leaves on mature stems mostly opposite, rarely subopposite or whorled; seeds often 3+ mm.
|[[#key-0-5| > 5]]
|-id=key-0-5
|5
|Calyces closed in bud or with porelike opening at apex (appearing closed in Syzygium cumini), persisting after anthesis as irregular parts or falling completely.
|[[#key-0-6| > 6]]
|-id=key-0-6
|6
|Inflorescences 1-flowered, or 3-flowered dichasia; seed coats bony.
|[[in part|Psidium (in part)]]
|-id=key-0-6
|6
|Inflorescences 3–100-flowered, mostly panicles; seed coats membranous or papery.
|[[#key-0-7| > 7]]
|-id=key-0-7
|7
|Petioles 2–8 mm; fruits spheroid to oblate (shorter than to as long as wide); calyptrae formed by connate calyx lobes; cotyledons thin, foliaceous (folded).
|[[Calyptranthes|Calyptranthes]]
|-id=key-0-7
|7
|Petioles 10–20 mm; fruits ellipsoid or subglobose (longer than wide); calyptrae formed by coherent petals; cotyledons thick, plano-convex.
|[[in part|Syzygium (in part)]]
|-id=key-0-5
|5
|Calyces open in bud, lobes clearly distinguishable, persisting after anthesis as 4 or 5 distinct lobes.
|[[#key-0-8| > 8]]
|-id=key-0-8
|8
|Flowers 5-merous (sometimes 7-merous in Rhodomyrtus).
|[[#key-0-9| > 9]]
|-id=key-0-9
|9
|Petals pink or red; leaves with brochidodromous to acrodromous venation.
|[[Rhodomyrtus|Rhodomyrtus]]
|-id=key-0-9
|9
|Petals whitish; leaves usually with brochidodromous venation, less often partially eucamptodromous.
|[[#key-0-10| > 10]]
|-id=key-0-10
|10
|Flower buds with calyx open before anthesis; calyx scarcely tearing, if at all, at anthesis; seed coats shiny, not notably dense, few cells thick, easily broken.
|[[Myrtus|Myrtus]]
|-id=key-0-10
|10
|Flower buds with calyx closed completely or open only by apical pore before anthesis; calyx tearing irregularly at anthesis; seed coats dull, dense, many cells thick, broken only with difficulty.
|[[in part|Psidium (in part)]]
|-id=key-0-8
|8
|Flowers [3 or]4-merous (except sometimes 5-merous in Myrcianthes and Syzygium).
|[[#key-0-11| > 11]]
|-id=key-0-11
|11
|Inflorescences panicles.
|[[in part|Syzygium (in part)]]
|-id=key-0-11
|11
|Inflorescences solitary flowers, racemes, dichasia, fascicles, or umbel-like clusters.
|[[#key-0-12| > 12]]
|-id=key-0-12
|12
|Seeds 1–27, 3–6 mm; embryos.
|[[#key-0-13| > 13]]
|-id=key-0-13
|13
|Seed coats membranous; embryos lenticular; cotyledons about as long as hypocotyl; leaf blades apiculate to abruptly acuminate; California.
|[[Luma|Luma]]
|-id=key-0-13
|13
|Seed coats bony; embryos Florida.
|[[Mosiera|Mosiera]]
|-id=key-0-12
|12
|Seeds usually 1(–4), usually 10–15 mm; embryos each a solid, globose or reniform mass, or with 2 distinct, plano-convex cotyledons (beanlike).
|[[#key-0-14| > 14]]
|-id=key-0-14
|14
|Cotyledons connate, fused in a mass.
|[[Eugenia|Eugenia]]
|-id=key-0-14
|14
|Cotyledons distinct, each thick, plano-convex, beanlike.
|[[#key-0-15| > 15]]
|-id=key-0-15
|15
|Inflorescences solitary flowers or dichasia; berries 6–15 mm; hypanthia not prolonged beyond summit of ovary, base not attenuate.
|[[Myrcianthes|Myrcianthes]]
|-id=key-0-15
|15
|Inflorescences racemes; berries 14–40 mm; hypanthia prolonged beyond summit of ovary, base often attenuate.
|[[in part|Syzygium (in part)]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Myrtaceae
|author=Leslie R. Landrum
|authority=Jussieu
|rank=family
|parent rank=
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Myrtaceae
|distribution=sw;s;se United States;Mexico;West Indies;Central America;South America;s;se Asia;Africa;Pacific Islands (Hawaii);Pacific Islands (New Guinea);Pacific Islands (Philippines);Australia;nearly worldwide in tropical;subtropical;and Mediterranean regions
|reference=None
|publication title=
|publication year=
|special status=
|source xml=
|anther dehiscence=dehiscing
|anther fixation=dorsifixed;basifixed
|bark architecture or pubescence=scaly
|bark architecture or pubescence or relief=smooth
|blade texture=submembranous;papery;submembranous;papery;leathery
|bract presence=absent
|bracteole presence=absent
|calyx lobe arrangement=imbricate
|calyx lobe fusion=fused;distinct
|calyx lobe variability=equaling
|capsule architecture or shape=nutlike
|embryo coating=oily
|embryo texture=starchy
|endosperm presence=absent
|endosperm quantity=scant
|flower architecture=actinomorphic;5(-7)-merous
|flower architecture or arrangement or growth form=solitary
|flower atypical quantity=0;4
|flower position=epigynous
|flower quantity=4
|flower reproduction=unisexual;bisexual
|growth architecture or function or pubescence=glandular
|growth life cycle=young
|growth odor=aromatic
|hair architecture=dibrachiate;simple;unicellular
|hypanthium length=prolonged
|hypanthium shape=cup-shaped;cylindric;cup-shaped;cylindric;obconic
|inflorescence position=pseudoterminal;terminal;axillary
|leaf architecture=petiolate;simple
|leaf arrangement=decussate;whorled;alternate;whorled;alternate;opposite
|leaf duration=persistent
|margin architecture or shape=entire
|margin shape=sinuate
|ovary architecture=carpellate
|ovary architecture or structure in adjective form=1-6[-18]-locular
|ovary placentation=axile
|ovary position=basal;subapical;basal;subapical;inferior
|ovule architecture=bitegmic
|ovule architecture or arrangement=multiseriate
|ovule arrangement=biseriate
|ovule atypical quantity=300;500
|ovule quantity=2;300
|petal arrangement=imbricate
|petal fusion=coherent;fused;distinct
|pistil quantity=1
|seed quantity=1;100
|seed-coat texture=bony;hard;leathery;hard;leathery;membranous
|shrub architecture=unarmed
|shrub growth form=clonal
|shrub growth form or habitat=terrestrial
|shrub reproduction=synoecious
|stamen quantity=10;720
|stigma quantity=1
|stipule derivation=true
|style position relational=surrounding
|style quantity=1
|unit architecture=open
}}<!--

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