P (3+3) A 1 fertile + 2 + (2) petaloid staminodes G (3), inferior.įIGURE 8.21. The Zingiberaceae are distinguished from related families of the Zingiberales in having distichous, usually ligulate leaves with a single, dithecal stamen and a petaloid labellum derived from two staminodes. (2002) for recent treatments of the family. officinale (ginger) some species are grown as cultivated ornamentals, e.g., Alpinia and Hedychium. domestica (turmeric), Elettaria cardamomum (cardamom), and Zingiber spp., including Z. Economic importance includes the source of important spice plants, e.g., Curcuma spp., including C. Members of the family have distributions in the tropics of South and S.E. The Zingiberaceae are a large family, usually classified into four tribes: Hedychieae (leaves parallel to rhizome, lateral staminodes petaloid, not fused to labellum), Zingibereae (style exserted past anther and enveloped by elongate anther crest), Alpinieae (leaves perpendicular to rhizome, lateral staminodes absent or small and fused to labellum), and Globbeae (filament long-exserted and arched, gynoecium l-locular). The fruit is a dry or fleshy loculicidal or indehiscent capsule seeds are arillate, with a starch-rich endosperm and perisperm. Septal nectaries are absent and replaced by two epigynous nectaries. The gynoecium is syncarpous, with an inferior ovary, 3 carpels (the median carpel anterior), and 1 or 3 locules the style is terminal and positioned in the furrow of the filament and between the anther thecae placentation is axile or parietal ovules are anatropous, bitegmic, and ∞ per carpel. Staminodes are 4, petaloid, the two in the inner whorl connate, forming an anterior labellum, the two in the outer whorl distinct above the floral tube or fused to labellum (the third member of the outer whorl absent). Stamens are 1 fertile (median posterior in position) the anther is longitudinal or poricidal in dehiscence, dithecal. The perianth is biseriate and homochlamydeous, 3+3, syntepalous, each whorl 3-lobed. Flowers are bisexual, zygomorphic, bracteate, and epigynous. The inflorescence is a bracteate spike, raceme, thyrse, or of solitary flowers. The leaves are distichous, simple, sheathing (sheaths forming a pseudostem in some), petiolate, usually ligulate, penni-parallel-veined, a pulvinus present in Zingiber. The Zingiberaceae consist of perennial herbs. Flower close-up (removed), showing inferior ovary, outer and inner tepals, and showy, petaloid staminodes. Inflorescence, showing single stamen of flower. Note single anther of stamen posterior to and partially enclosing style. Flower close-up, showing tepals and petaloid staminodes, forming an anterior labellum. Whole plant, erect aerial stem with inflorescence. Floral resupination has been lost independently in different lineages of the Lobeliaceae where it is not needed due to variant pollen transfer modes ( Ayers 1994).įIGURE 7.61. In Lobeliaceae the monosymmetric flowers are resupinated, i.e., they are turned 180° during development so that the pollination apparatus comes to lie in the appropriate position for effective pollen transfer to the dorsal surface of a pollinator. On the other hand, it is also noteworthy that the fifth stamen has been regained in several instances, when flowers reverted to polysymmetry ( Endress 1994 Burtt 1994).Ī pappus in the flowers and fruits of the genus Centaurea (Asteraceae) has been lost in one or a few species of at least eight sections of the genus ( Wagenitz 1974). This reduction of the anticous (lower) or posticous (upper) stamen pair is sometimes labile at low systematic levels, e.g., within a genus, and must have occurred many times in parallel (reviewed in Endress 1994 Hilliard 1994). In addition, sometimes one of the remaining two stamen pairs is also sterile or absent. In the pentamerous flowers of Scrophulariales the adaxial stamen is almost always reduced concomitant with floral monosymmetry it is either present as a staminode or completely absent. ENDRESS, in Homoplasy, 1996 Floral Organization and Architecture