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Madeira-vine family
Basellaceae Raf.
ツルムラサキ科
A small family of climbing succulent herbs of tropical American origin, comprising about 20 species. In Japan, Basella alba (Malabar spinach, of Asian origin) is widely cultivated as a vegetable and naturalized in warm areas. The leaves are succulent and mucilaginous, and are edible.
Key Characteristics
- ●Climbing succulent herbs
- ●Leaves are simple, alternate, succulent, and glossy
- ●Flowers are small with 5 sepals and no petals
- ●Fruit is a single-seeded fruit enclosed in fleshy persistent sepals
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
5 petals / Many
Petal fusion
Fused
Ovary position
Superior
Stamen count
1-2 / 5
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Caryophyllales > Basellaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene (ca. 45 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Acquisition of water storage capacity through succulent stems and leaves
- ・Adaptation to forest margin climbing habit through twining growth
Plants in Madeira-vine family on this site
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