| Class: | angiosperms |
| Order: | Dipsacales |
| Family: | Adoxaceae |
| Editor | S. Rilke, July 2009 |
| Name acc. to: | APGII |
| Herbar: | list records  |
| Description: | Delicate , glabrous herbs. Stem leaves smaller and less divided than basal leaves. Inflorescence a terminal glomerule of 5 sessile flowers, without involucre. Terminal and lateral flowers differ in number of calyx and corolla lobes. |
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| genus: 1 |
| species: 1 |
| Habit (i)general appearance of a plant | |
| Growth form: (i)Herb, shrub, tree or climber. | herb (i)Herbaceous, erect plant, up to 2m high, mostly with a leafy shoot; if perennial, shoots die to the ground each season, shoots are not woody
example: Artemisia pectinata 
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| 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 arrangement: (i)Arrangement of leaves at the stem. | opposite, opposite-decussate (i)Two leaves per node
example: Lamiaceae, e.g. Phlomis  
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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. | compound (i)Composed of several similar parts
pinnate (i)With leaflets on both sides of an axis, at least 2 pairs or more
example: Onobrychis 
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| Stipule: (i)Leaflets at the base of the petiole, these are smaller and of different shape. | none (i)Without stipules
example: Euphorbia, Ericaceae s.l.
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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. | greenish (i)petals absent or not distinctly different from colours of leaves, only stigmas (white) or anthers (yellow) may differ in color
example: Chenopodium, Triglochin
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| Diameter of flower: (i)Diameter of flower or flower head. | to 5 mm (i)
example: Aruncus
from 5 mm to 10 mm (i)
example: Stellaria
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| Flower symmetry: (i)Symmetry of the perianth leaves. Attention: to assess this character, look on sepals, petals and stamens, but neglect carpels and ovary. | radiary, regular (actinomorphic) (i)More than two axis of symmetry
example: Saxifraga: 5; Iris: 3 
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| Sepal number: (i)Number of sepal leaves (outer perianth leaves, calyx leaves, mostly greenish). Attention, this character applies only for flowers separated in sepals and petals, thus excluding most monocots. Be aware of the bracts (involucral leaves) of Asteraceae flowerheads, do not qualify these as sepals! Be also aware in Rosaceae is often an epicalyx developed, in this case count all parts. | 2 (i)
example: Papaveraceae
3 (i)
example: Baldellia, Alisma
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| Sepal fusion: (i)To which degree are the sepal leaves connected? Attention, this character applies only for flowers separated in sepals and petals, thus excluding most monocots. Be aware of the bracts (involucral leaves) of Asteraceae flowerheads, do not qualify these as sepals! | fused at base (i)Leaves with a joint base, but fused over not more than half of the entire length
example: Campanula
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| Petal / Tepal number: (i)Number of petal leaves (inner perianth leaves, usually coloured). | 4 (i)
example: Galium
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| Petal / Tepal fusion: (i)To which degree are the petal leaves connected? Petals sympetalous. | fused at base (i)petal leaves with a joint base, but fused over not more than 50% of the entire length
example: Myosotis, Pedicularis, Cortusa
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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 number: (i)Attention: We ask for the reproductive organs of the flower dispersing pollen. Count only fully fertile stamens, not staminodia (e.g. Parnassia). | 4 (i)Extremely rare, may be absent
example: Plantago
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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). | intermediate ovary (i)Ovary partly or fully underneath the perianth leaves, ovary not fused with axis but surrounded by a flower cup
example: Prunus, a lot of Rosaceae  
inferior (i)Ovary below the point where perianth leaves are inserted, always fused to an ovary
example: Vaccinum  
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| Inflorescence (i)flowering part of a plant, describes the arrangement of the flowers on the flowering axis | |
| Appearance: (i)Outer look of the inflorescence. | terminal (i)Inflorescence is the highest point of the plant and may consist of a single flower only
example: Cypripedium, Rhaponticum, Ligularia sibirica, Echinops
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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. | head or capitulum (= calathidium) (i)Sessile flowers densely clustered on a compressed or widened axis, often surrounded by bracts, called involucral leaves
example: Asteraceae, Dipsacaceae, Sanguisorba, Trifolium  
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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. | fleshy (i)Usually non dehiscent; with a fleshy (swollen because of a high water content) outer shell, flesh edible at least for animals
example: Prunus, Amygdalus, Malus
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| Type of fruit: (i)Common fruit types (including pseudocarp). | Indehiscent fruits
Solitary fruits (i)   
drupe (stone fruit) (i)Fleshy, indehiscent fruit with a single, hard stone inside
example: Plum, cherry 
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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). | 2-6 (i)2-6 single seeds, well recognizable
example: Crataegus: few-seeded berry
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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 Dipsacales: allorhizous
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