| Lepidobotryaceae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lepidobotrys staudtii, fromVegetation der Erde (1915) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Celastrales |
| Family: | Lepidobotryaceae J.Léonard[1] |
| Genera | |
Lepidobotryaceae is afamily of plants in the orderCelastrales.[2] It contains only two species:[3][4]Lepidobotrys staudtii (native to tropical Africa) andRuptiliocarpon caracolito (native to South and Central America).
The Lepidobotryaceae aredioecious trees. The leaves are alternate and arranged in two rows along the stems. The blade is elliptical in shape and the margin isentire. The leaves appearsimple, but are actuallyunifoliate. A unifoliate leaf is a type ofcompound leaf that consists of a single leaflet mounted on the end of arachis. A joint occurs where the leaflet is attached to the rachis.[5] In Lepidobotryaceae, this joint bears a single, elongatestipel and a pair of smallstipules where thepetiole attaches to the stem. After the emergence of the leaf, the stipel and stipules soon fall away.
The flowers are produced in smallinflorescences opposite the leaves.[6] They are small and greenish with fivesepals and fivepetals. The sepals and petals are similar in size and appearance, free from each other, or very shortly united at the base. In the flower bud, the sepals are arrangedquincuncially. This means that two are inside, two are outside, and one of them has one margin exposed and the other covered.[7] Thenectary disk is fleshy inLepidobotrys, but extended into a tube inRuptiliocarpon.[3] Thestamens are in twowhorls of five, one whorl opposite the sepals and the other opposite the petals. Those in the outer whorl, opposite the sepals, are longer. Thefilaments are fused at the base, shortly inLepidobotrys, but forming an extension of the tubular nectary inRuptiliocarpon. The pollen is produced in fourthecae on each anther. The stigmas are elongated, appearing as falsestyles, known asstylodia.[3]Theovary is located inside the flower, rather than below. It has two or threelocules, with twoovules per locule. The ovules are attached to the partition that separates the locules, near its summit. The fruit is acapsule with one, or rarely, two seeds. The seeds are black and partly covered with an orangearil.
In 2000, a DNA analysis of the eudicots based on therbcL gene showed that the families Lepidobotryaceae,Parnassiaceae, andCelastraceae form a strongly supportedclade.[8] The authors of this study recommended that these three families constitute the order Celastrales. This result was strongly supported by later studies.[9][10]
The families into whichLepidobotrys had usually been placed, Linaceae and Oxalidaceae, are now placed in the ordersMalpighiales andOxalidales, respectively, which are closely related to Celastrales. The orders Celastrales, Oxalidales, and Malpighiales, along with the unplaced familyHuaceae form a group known as the COM clade of therosids.[10]
