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Sphenoclea family
Sphenocleaceae T.Baskerv.
スフェノクレア科
A monotypic family of tropical and subtropical paddy fields and wetlands, comprising only the genus Sphenoclea with 2 species. In Japan it has become established as a paddy weed, occasionally affecting rice cultivation. Plants are small annuals bearing dense spike-like inflorescences.
Key Characteristics
- ●Aquatic or wetland annual herbs
- ●Stems hollow and spongy (aerenchymatous)
- ●Leaves simple, alternate, with entire margins
- ●Flowers small, 5-merous, borne in dense spicate inflorescences
- ●Fruit a circumscissile capsule (a distinctive dehiscence mechanism)
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Latex
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Ovary position
Inferior / Half-inferior
Stamen count
5
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Campanulales > Sphenocleaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene (ca. 45 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Specialization to paddy and wetland habitats, with spongy stems providing buoyancy and internal oxygen transport
- ・Evolution of circumscissile capsule dehiscence, a distinctive fruit-opening mechanism
Plants in Sphenoclea family on this site
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