Description
Family Myrtaceae
Trees
or shrubs
, evergreen
, usually with essential oils-containing cavities in foliage
, branchlets
, and flowers. Stipules absent or small and caducous
. Leaves opposite, occasionally alternate, occasionally ternate
or pseudo-whorled; leaf blade
with secondary veins pinnate or basal, often with intramarginal veins
near margin
, margin usually entire. Inflorescences axillary
or terminal
, cymose
but variously arranged, 1- to many-flowered. Flowers bisexual
, sometimes polygamous, actinomorphic
. Hypanthium usually adnate
to ovary and prolonged above it. Calyx lobes
(3 or) 4 or 5 or more, distinct
or connate
into a calyptra. Petals 4 or 5, sometimes absent, distinct or connate into a calyptra, sometimes coherent and pseudocalyptrate. Stamens usually numerous
, in 1 to several whorls; filaments
distinct or connate into 5 bundles opposite petals; anthers
2-celled, dorsifixed
or basifixed
, dehiscing longitudinally or rarely terminally; connectives
usually terminating in 1 or more apical glands
. Ovary inferior, semi-inferior, or very rarely superior, carpels 2 to more, locules 1 to many, pseudoseptum sometimes present, placentation usually axile
but occasionally parietal
; ovules 1 to several per locule. Style single; stigma single. Fruit a capsule, berry, drupaceous
berry, or drupe, 1- to many-seeded. Seeds without endosperm or endosperm sparse and thin; testa cartilaginous
or thinly membranous, sometimes absent; embryo straight or curved
.
About 130 genera and 4500-5000 species: Mediterranean region, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, tropical
and temperate
Asia, Australia, Pacific islands, tropical and South America; 10 genera (five introduced
) and 121 species (50 endemic, 32 introduced treated here) in China.
Many Myrtaceae are cultivated garden ornamentals
, street trees, or plantation trees. Some members
of tribe
Syzygieae are grown as fruit crops. In addition to the cultivated members of the family
treated here, some others grown in China include Acca sellowiana (O. Berg
) Burrett (Feijoa sellowiana (O. Berg) O. Berg), Myrtus communis Linnaeus, and Syncarpia glomulifera (Smith) Niedenzu.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Myrtanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Myrtales
()
- Reichenbach, 1828
- Suborder:
Myrtineae
()
-
- Family:
Myrtaceae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Myrtle Family
- Subfamily:
Leptospermoideae
()
- Genus:
Metrosideros
()
- Banks ex J. Gaertner, 1788, nom. cons.
- Subgenus:
nom
()
- Specific epithet:
elegans
- (Montrouz.) Beauvis.
- Botanical name: - Metrosideros elegans (Montrouz.) Beauvis.
- Specific epithet:
elegans
- (Montrouz.) Beauvis.
- Subgenus:
nom
(
- Genus:
Metrosideros
(
- Subfamily:
Leptospermoideae
(
- Family:
Myrtaceae
(
- Suborder:
Myrtineae
(
- Order:
Myrtales
(
- Superorder:
Myrtanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 11-Nov-2003
Similar Species
Members of the genus Metrosideros
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 35 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
M. collina (Anume (Samoa)) · M. collina var. newellii (Vunga) · M. collina var. vitiensis (Vunga) · M. collina 'Fiji' (Fiji New Zealand Christmas Tree) · M. collina 'Springfire' (Metrosideros) · M. excelsa (Common Pohutakawa) · M. excelsa 'Gala' (Common Pohutakawa) · M. fulgens 'Gold' (Metrosideros) · M. macropus ('ohi'a) · M. polymorpha ('ohi'a) · M. polymorpha var. dieteri J.W.Dawson and Stemmerm. ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. fauriei (‘ohi‘a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. glaberrima (Levl.) St. John ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. incana (Levl.) Skottsb. ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. macrophylla (Rock) St. John ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. macrostemon (‘ohi‘a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. micrantha (‘ohi‘a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. newellii (Rock) St. John ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. polymorpha Gaud. ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. pseudorugosa Skottsb. ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. pumila (Heller) Skottsb. ('ohi'a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. sericea (‘ohi‘a Lehua) · M. polymorpha var. subimbricata (‘ohi‘a Lehua) · M. robusta (Giant Rata) · M. rugosa (Lehua-Papa) · M. thomasii (Metrosideros Springfire) · M. tremuloides (Lehua-Ahihi) · M. umbellata (Ironwood) · M. villosa (Iron-Tree) · M. villosa 'Tahiti' (Tahiti New Zealand Christmas Tree) · M. villosus 'Tahiti' (Metrosideros) · M. vitiencensis 'Fiji' (Metrosideros) · M. waialealae (Kauai Bottlebrush) · M. waialealae (Rock) Rock var. fauriei (Levl.) J.W.Dawson & Stemmerm. (Kauai Bottlebrush) · M. waialealae (Rock) Rock var. waialealae (Rock) Rock (Kauai Bottlebrush)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Chang Hung-ta & Miau Ru-hwai. 1984. Myrtaceae. In: Chen Chieh, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53(1): 28-135.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
Identifiers
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-126402
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4378975
Footnotes
- Jie Chen & Lyn A. Craven "Myrtaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 321. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
