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Magnoliopsida
Aristolochiaceae Juss.
EOL Text
Herbs, climbers, rarely shrubs. Stipules 0 but stipule-like leaves may be present in the leaf axils. Leaves alternate, often palmately-veined, simple, entire or 3-5-lobed. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, solitary or arranged in racemes or cymes. Calyx petaloid, usually enlarged with a basal tube; apical limb 1-3-lobed. Petals 0. Stamens 6-10 or many. Ovary inferior, 3-6-locular. Style with 3-6 stigmas. Fruit usually a many-seeded capsule. Seeds sometimes winged.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings, Flora of Zimbabwe |
Source | http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/family.php?family_id=21 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:732
Specimens with Sequences:819
Specimens with Barcodes:540
Species:217
Species With Barcodes:213
Public Records:586
Public Species:206
Public BINs:0
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Spanish Wikipedia. (December 2009) Click [show] on the right to read important instructions before translating.
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The Aristolochiaceae, or the Birthwort family, are a family of flowering plants with 7 genera and about 400 species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is Aristolochia L.
Contents
Description[edit]
They are mostly perennial, herbaceous plants, shrubs, woody vines or even lianas.
The membranous, cordate simple leaves are spread out, growing alternately along the stem on leaf stalks. The margins are commonly entire. There are no stipules.
The bizarre flowers are large to medium-sized, growing in the leaf axils. They are bilaterally or radially symmetrical.
Classification[edit]
The Aristolochiaceae are magnoliids, a basal group of angiosperms which are not part of the large categories of monocots or eudicots.
Some newer classification schemes, such as the Update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, place the family Aristolochiaceae in the order Piperales, but it is still quite common, though superseded, for the Aristolochiaceae to be assigned, sometimes with some other families, their own order (Aristolochiales).
Phytochemistry[edit]
Many members of Aristolochia and some of Asarum contain the toxin aristolochic acid, which discourages herbivores and is known to be carcinogenic in rats. Aristolochia itself is carcinogenic to humans.
Ecology[edit]
Pipevine swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on pipevine (Aristolochia species), and the larvae dine on the plant but are not affected by the toxin, which then offers the adult butterfly protection against predators.
Genera[edit]
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Excluded genera[edit]
- Lactoris Phil. -> Lactoridaceae
References[edit]
- ^ "Family: Aristolochiaceae Juss., nom. cons.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-04-12. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
- ^ "GRIN Genera of Aristolochiaceae subfam. Aristolochioideae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
- ^ "GRIN Genera of Aristolochiaceae subfam. Asaroideae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aristolochiaceae&oldid=644556981 |