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Stickleaf family
Loasaceae Juss.
ロアサ科
A family of about 265 species distributed mainly in arid and rocky habitats in the Americas. Many species have sharp, hook-like or stinging hairs that attach to clothing and animals for seed dispersal. Not native to Japan; some are cultivated as ornamentals.
Key Characteristics
- ●Stems and leaves are densely covered with stinging or hook-shaped barbed hairs
- ●Petals are 5, white to yellow, with numerous stamens
- ●Leaves are simple, alternate or opposite
- ●Fruit is a capsule containing numerous seeds
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 / Compound
Venation
Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Compound type
Ternate / Pinnate
Leaf dissection
Dissected / Undivided
Stipules
Present / Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Ovary position
Inferior / Half-inferior
Stamen count
3-4
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Cucurbitales > Loasaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene (ca. 50 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Adaptation to epizoochory (animal-mediated dispersal) via hooked barbed hairs
- ・Specialization to dry, rocky habitats
Plants in Stickleaf family on this site
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