Ventilago Gaertn.

Scientific Description

Family Rhamnaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs, or lianas (rarely); evergreen, or deciduous. ‘Normal’ plants. Leaves well developed. Plants with roots; non-succulent; unarmed; autotrophic. To 10 m high (in WA). Self supporting, or climbing (rarely). Not heterophyllous. Leaves medium-sized; not fasciculate; alternate; with blades; leathery; petiolate; with ‘normal’ orientation; simple; not peltate. Leaf blades entire; narrowly oblong, or linear; pinnately veined; acute. Mature leaf blades adaxially glabrous (in WA); abaxially glabrous (in WA). Leaves with stipules. Stipules scaly; caducous. Leaf blade margins entire; flat. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’. Inflorescence many-flowered, or few-flowered. Flowers in racemes (and in ‘clusters’). Inflorescences simple. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences axillary. Flowers pedicellate; minute; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tricyclic. Free hypanthium present. Perianth sepaline (in WA); 5; 1 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; lobed; glabrous, or hairy (very sparsely); valvate; regular. Calyx lobes triangular. Epicalyx absent. Corolla absent. Androecium present. Fertile stamens present. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial members adnate (to the base of the sepals); free of the gynoecium; free of one another; 1 -whorled. Stamens 5; all more or less similar in shape; isomerous with the perianth; alternisepalous; filantherous. Anthers separate from one another; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; bilocular; tetrasporangiate. Fertile gynoecium present. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; apical. Stigmas 2 - lobed. Ovules 1 per locule (in WA); ascending; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit aerial; 3–5(–50) mm long (when including the wing); not hairy; indehiscent; a samara. Dispersal unit the seed. Seeds 1 per locule.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales. Northern Botanical Province. A genus of ca 40 species; 1 species in Western Australia; V. viminalis Hook.; 0 endemic to Western Australia.

Etymology. From the Latin for "to fan, swing"; refers to the winged fruits.