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Synonyms: Bucidaceae Spreng.; Myrobalanaceae Martinov; Strephonemataceae Venkat. & Prak. Rao, nom. inval.; Terminaliaceae J. St.-Hil.
Common name: Indian-almond Family.
Number of genera 19. Number of species 500.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or an incomplete fruit with epicarp absent and mesocarp exposed, or an incomplete fruit with epicarp and mesocarp absent and endocarp exposed, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit anthocarp, or pericarpium; simple; capsule, or drupe (of authors, but not Spjut); loculicidal capsule; capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; simple; diclesium (Terminalia Spjut Fig. 25C), or pseudosamara (Calycopteris floribunda); without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; within accessory organ(s), or not within accessory organ(s); within perianth (Spjut does not record the accrescent part - for diclesium it is the fruiting perianth, but for the pseudosamara it is either the perianth or bracteole parts); accrescent; persistent; 1-seeded; 1-seeded; 1-carpellate; in transection angled; 5-angled (angled or ridged); apex not beaked; indehiscent, or dehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly; at apex; without replum. Epicarp durable; leathery; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; with wing(s), or without wing(s); 2-winged, or 5-winged; without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; bony, or woody, or thin; splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; stone unilocular; stone 1-loculate; not smooth, or smooth (probably 1–5 costate); with ribs; without wing, or with wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity without food reserves; without canavanine. Sarcotesta present. Testa present; surface unsmooth; surface with depressed features, or merged raised features; surface scobiculate; surface reticulate, or striate, or wrinkled; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; brown (all shades); membranous, or thin; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo ("testa of non-Terminalia genera are hard to obtain" (Corner) [thus absent may be appropriate].).
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; completely filling testa (no food reserve); at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; straight; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; with cotyledons containing oils; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2, or 3 (Terminalia spp. from SE Asia); well developed; 0.9 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle, or somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; foliaceous, or not foliaceous; moderately thick, or massive and hemispheric (Strephonema); convoluted, or controtiplicate, or convoluted, or crumpled, or flat (rarely); with margins separate, or adhering (fused in African spp. of Combretum); equal in size, or unequal in size; markedly unequal; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed, or well developed, or small; not thickened.
Distribution
Pantropical and pansubtropical. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Terminalia amazonia (J. F. Gmel.) Exell -- Terminalia catappa L. -- Terminalia ivorensis A. Chev. -- Terminalia superba Engl. & Diels -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Anogeissus (DC.) Guill. & Perr. -- Buchenavia Eichler, nom. cons. -- Bucida L., nom. cons. -- Calycopteris Lam. -- Combretum Loefl., nom. cons. -- Conocarpus L. -- Dansiea Byrnes -- Guiera Adans. ex Juss. -- Laguncularia C. F. Gaertn. -- Lumnitzera Willd. -- Macropteranthes F. Muell. -- Meiostemon Exell & Stace -- Pteleopsis Engl. -- Quisqualis L. -- Strephonema Hook. f. -- Terminalia L., nom. cons. -- Terminaliopsis Danguy -- Thiloa Eichler
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 651.
General references
Baillon, H.E. 1866–95. Histoire des plantes, 13 vols. Hachette and Co., Paris, Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Engler, A. and K. Prantl. 1924 and onward. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilimien. W. Engelman, Leipzig, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R. and J.V. Dennis. 1976. World guide to tropical drift seeds and fruits, 240 pp. The New York Times Book Co., New York, Gunn, C.R. and C.A. Ritchie. 1988. Identification of disseminules listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1719:1–313, Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Roosmalen, M.G.M. van. 1985. Fruits of the Guianan flora, 483 pp. Institute of Systematic Botany, Wageningen Agricultural University. Drukkerij Veenman B.V., Wageningen, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed Illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or fruit incomplete, or fruit incomplete, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, Roosmalen, Baillon, Engler & Prantl, Gunn & Dennis. Fruit illustration(s): Gunn & Dennis. Fruit illustration(s): Gunn & Dennis. Seed illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, Karen, Baillon, Engler & Prantl. Embryo illustration(s): Gunn & Ritchie, Karen, Baillon, Engler & Prantl. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 199: Anogeissus latifolia (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall. ex Guill. & Perr. [not finalized], Buchenavia macrophylla Eichl. (A-C), Bucida palustris A. Borhidi & O. Muniz (D-F), (Cacoucia coccinea) Combretum cacoucia Exell. (G-I), Combretum micranthum G. Don (J-L), Conocarpus erecta L. [not finalized], Guiera senegalensis Lam. (M-O), Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F. Gaertn. (2: A-C), Lumnitzera littorea Voight (D-F) [see note], Ptelsopsis hylodendron Mildbr. (2: G-I) , Quisqualis indica L. (2: J-K), Terminalia oliveri Brandis (M-O).
• Fruit. 1 of 14. Combretum imberbe Wawra: fruits. • Seed. 2 of 14. Combretum imberbe Wawra: fruit. • Fruit. 3 of 14. Terminalia catappa L.: fruit. • Fruit. 4 of 14. Terminalia catappa L.: fruit with exocarp removed. • Seed. 5 of 14. Terminalia catappa L.: seed. • Embryo. 6 of 14. Buchenavia macrophylla Eichler: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 14. Bucida palustris Borhidi & O. Muniz: embryo. • Embryo. 8 of 14. Combretum coccineum (Sonn.) Lam.: embryo. • Embryo. 9 of 14. Combretum hereroense Schinz: embryo. • Embryo. 10 of 14. Combretum micranthum G. Don: embryo. • Embryo. 11 of 14. Guiera senegalensis J. F. Gmel.: embryo. • Embryo. 12 of 14. Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C. F. Gaertn.: embryo. • Embryo. 13 of 14. Quisqualis indica L.: embryo. • Embryo. 14 of 14. Terminalia oblongata F. Muell.: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
