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Common name: Trimenia Family.
Number of genera 1 (Morley & Toelkin [1983] and not Mabberley [1987]). Number of species 5.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) simple; 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium; simple; berry, or drupe; berry indehiscent; berry without central placental mass; without persistent central column; not within accessory organ(s); 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–2-seeded; 1(–2)-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection angled; apex not beaked; wall fleshy; indehiscent. Epicarp durable; without armature; smooth; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present; fleshy; composed of 1 unified layer; without lactiform cavity system. Endocarp absent (Spjut has berry thus no endocarp but Cronquist has drupaceous thus inferring an endocarp). Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed ovate; in transection compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; loose; surface unsmooth; surface with merged raised features; surface reticulate; 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; bony; not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Endosperm copious; gelatinous; smooth; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); small; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric and basal; linear; straight; parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; tiny; 0.5 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle small; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Old World. Southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji).
Notes
A few authors incorrectly recorded drupaceous or drupelet. Mabberley: Recognized both genera. Morely & Toelkin (1983): Trimeniaceae in Australia has two genera: Sphenostemon now in its own family and Piptocalyx. Endress & Sampson (1983): "The fruit contains a hard layer that is grooved or ridged on the outer surface in some species. Although the hard layer looks like the endocarp of a drupe, it clearly corresponds to the periphery of the seed. The fruit is, therefore, a one-seeded berry".
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
No ASOA or ISTA listed seeds.
Accepted genera
Trimenia Seem., nom. cons.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 65. Endress, P.K. & F.B. Sampson. 1983. Floral structure and relationships of the Trimeniaceae (Laurales). J. Arnold Arbor. 64:447–473; Baker R.T. Original fruit and seed drawings of Piptocalyx moorei Benth.—a copy is at BARC.
General references
Aubréville, A. and J.-F. Leroy. 1982. Flore de la Nouvelle Calédonie et Dépendances. National d'Historie Naturelle, Paris, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, 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., 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, Morley, B.D. and H.R. Toelken, eds. 1983. Flowering Plants in Australia, 416 pp. Rigby, Adelaide, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
No fruit and poor seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Baker (1896), Aubre'ville & Leroy. Seed illustration(s): Baker (1896), Aubre'ville & Leroy, Karen. Embryo illustration(s): Baker (1896), Aubre'ville & Leroy, Karen. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 012: Trimenia weinmanniifolia Seem. (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 3. Trimenia weinmanniaefolia Seem.: fruits. • Seed. 2 of 3. Trimenia weinmanniaefolia Seem.: seeds. • Embryo. 3 of 3. Trimenia weinmanniaefolia Seem.: 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’.
