Taxonomy
of Flowering Plants - LECTURE
NOTES - Spring, 1998
Hugh
D. Wilson - rm. 306,
Butler Hall
11 February 1998
The Magnoliidae
Family Overview - The Magnoliales
Winteraceae - the Winter Bark Family
Diversity: 8 genera and
about 90 species
Distribution: Restricted
to the southern hemisphere, Malaysia, Australia and Central/South America
- not represented in the Texas flora
Floral structure:
Some genera show syncarpy, flowers can be
solitary but often aggregated in cymose inflorescences
Significant features:
xylem without vessel elements and this appears to be a basal (not derived)
condition. Closure of the carpel not complete in some taxa.
Often positioned, especially Drimys winteri, as the most
archaic extant angiosperm.
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