Class: | angiosperms |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Betulaceae |
Name acc. to: | APGII |
Herbar: | list records |
Description: | Small amemophilous trees or shrubs often with smooth bark exfoliating in thin layers; plants monoecious. Leaf lamina sometimes lobed. Flowers unisexual. Staminate flowers in pendulous catkins, borne in 3 flowered groups adhering to their bracts; pistillate flowers by 1-3 in clusters. Single seeded nutlets winged. |
Confuse with: | Salicaceae (without fruits) |
Link to Flora of China: | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=10101 |
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| genus: 2 |
| species: 12 |
Habit (i)general appearance of a plant | |
Parasite status: (i)Is the plant a half- or full parasite? | no parasite/saprophyte (i)Plant fully autonomous, leaves with chlorophyll example: Most plants, Ranunculus
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Water or terrestrial plant: (i)Where do the plants grow? | terrestrial (i)Plant grows on dry land example: Orostachys spinosa
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Leaf (i)expanded, usually photosynthetic organ of a plant (including phylloclades) | |
Leaf development: (i)Structure and development of leaves. | with green leaves (i)Plant with green leaves
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Leaf arrangement: (i)Arrangement of leaves at the stem. | alternate (i)One leaf per node; distiche: arranged in two vertical rows, equitant example: Phragmites
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Simple or divided leaves: (i)Are the leaves simple or completely divided in several parts? Blade of the leaf entire or (more or less) deeply dissected. Attention: There are various appearances of the leaf margin (from entire to toothed and lobed). Here, we ignore this and ask only for dissections that separate the leaf for more than one third of its length or width, whatever is smaller. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell apart compound leaves from a shoot system with simple leaves: look for stipulae and/or axillary buds at the ground of the leaves: if only some possess these structures, the others are most likely leaflets of a compound leaf. | simple (i)Non-divided leaf, but margin may be incised nearly to the ground
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Petiole: (i)Leaf divided into stalk (petiole) and blade. | with (i)Leaves with petiole (stalk)
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Stipule: (i)Leaflets at the base of the petiole, these are smaller and of different shape. | pair (i)A pair of free stipulae example: Lathyrus, Trifolium
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Leaf colour upper side: (i)Shades of green on the leaf, upper side. | green (i)Clear green example: Tribulus terrestris
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Leaf colour lower side: (i)Shades of green on the leaf, lower side. | green (i)Clear green, in most species example: Angelica decurrens
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Leaf veination: (i)Arrangement of the main veins of a leaf. | pinnate (i)One main vein, several side veins, sometimes inconspicuous example: Cicerbita
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Flower (i)reproductive portion of the plant, consisting of sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils | |
Flower appearance and pollination: (i)General appearance of the flower. | not attractive, wind-pollinated or some water plants (i)Small, colourless or green flowers example: Betula, grasslike plants: Carex, Setaria, Juncus
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Flower colour: (i)Attention: assess colour of the most colourful parts of the flower, but not of the stamens; be aware of single plants with a mutation (mostly white) on flower colour. | colourless (i)Dry membranous
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Perianth arrangement: (i)Attention: in some plants, flowers may be dimorphic in different ways (dioecious or gynodioecious). If flowers vary, record the characters of the most showy flowers. | absent or strongly reduced (i)No perianth leaves ensheathing stamen and/or carpels example: Callitriche
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Diameter of flower: (i)Diameter of flower or flower head. | to 5 mm (i) example: Aruncus
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Spur: (i)A hollow, slender, sac-like appendage of the perianth leaves, storing nectar. | no spur (i)Flower without appendage example: Peganum
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Stamen fusion: (i)To which degree are the stamens fused? Attention: Whereas the pollen sacs itself are often free., their stalks (filaments) may be fused. Here, we count them as fused if they are together over at least one thirth of their length. | free (i)Stamens with separate bases example: Malus
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Carpel number: (i)Number of carpels (carpel: forming a simple pistil or part of a compound pistil, modified leaf). | 2
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Carpel fusion: (i)To which degree are the carpels (modified leaf forming simple pistil or part of a compound pistil) fused. | fused (i)Carpels united into an ovary, only styles are free example: Malus, Berberis
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Ovary position: (i)For entirely or partly fused carpels, describe their position in relation to the insertion point of perianth leaves (best done by doing a longitudinal section of a flower). | inferior (i)Ovary below the point where perianth leaves are inserted, always fused to an ovary example: Vaccinum
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Sex: (i)Distribution of male and female organs among flowers, only most commonly cases. | unisexual (i) example: Rhodiola monoecious (i)Male and female flowers at the same plant example: Xanthium, Larix, Atriplex
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Inflorescence (i)flowering part of a plant, describes the arrangement of the flowers on the flowering axis | |
Inflorescence: (i)Structure of the inflorescence. | Flowers in inflorescence (i)No solitary flowers
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Appearance: (i)Outer look of the inflorescence. | axillary (i)Usually several inflorescences in axillary shoots or single flowers in leaf axils, main shoot remains mostly leafy example: Tragopogon, Aconogonon
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Inflorescence type: (i)Types of inflorescence. Attention: We here ask for the botanical nomenclature of inflorescences, which is sufficiently complicated. Tick only, if you are certain, or tick all inflorescence types that appear similar of these of the plant in question. | catkin (i)Mostly unisexual flowers, in pendulous spikes ore racemes, often falling as a whole after fruiting example: Betula (male pendulous, female upward), Corylus (only male inflorescences, pendulous), Salix (strict upward), Populus (pendulous)
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Fruit (i)the seed bearing organ, with or without adnate parts; a ripened ovary and any other structures which are attached and ripen with it. Aggregate fruits are handled like simple fruits for determination. | |
Consistency: (i)Fleshy fruits or dry fruits, see dispersal adaptations for further classification. | dry (i)With a dry outer shell, no fleshy parts, but seed (embryo) could be edible
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Type of fruit: (i)Common fruit types (including pseudocarp). | Indehiscent fruits Solitary fruits (i) nut or nutlet (i)Dry fruit with a single, hard stone inside (and usually a large often edible embryo)
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Opening of fruit: (i)Mode of dehiscence at maturity to release seeds. | not opening / indehiscent (i)Fruits remain closed at maturity and disperse with seeds inside example: Corylus (nut), Vaccinium (berry)
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Size of fruit: (i)Size of the fruit including appendage. | to 5 mm (i) example: Halerpestes: many folicles forming dry nutlets
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Dispersal: (i)Appearance of fruit or seed (if single) and adaptations to dispersal. | Flying (wind dispersed) (i)Fruits or seeds with appendages to fly example: Taraxacum, Atraphaxis, Pulsatilla
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Seed number: (i)Estimate the number of seeds per fruit, if recognizable seeds are in the fruit (in rare cases a fruit may contain one seeded nuts: rose hip, carex). | 1 (i)A single seed (stone) or seed and fruit wall tightly connected example: Prunus, Amygdalus: drupe
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Shoot/Stem (i)a young stem or branch | |
Cross section: (i)Shape of the cross section of a stem or shoot (look at first to second year shoots). | round (i)Stem or shoot round example: Allium
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Spines, thorns or prickles: (i)Shoot with conspicuous spines, thorns or prickles. | absent (i)Stem glabrous or hairy, but never with spines, thornes or prickles example: Gentiana barbata
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Root / shoot below ground (i)plant part below ground (in most cases), including below ground shoots, without leaves | |
Root type: (i)Organisation of the roots. | allorhizous (i)Plant with a conspicuous tap root, one larger tap root with side roots example: Dicotyledonae inherited by order Fagales: allorhizous
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