Pentaptilon E.Pritz.

Scientific Description

Family Goodeniaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs (erect). Annual, or perennial. Leaves basal and cauline (mostly basal). Plants with a basal concentration of leaves. Mesophytic, or xerophytic. Leaves alternate, or opposite to whorled; spiral; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; flat; obovate, or oblong, or elliptic; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire; flat. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present; glandular hairs present; complex hairs present, or absent. Extra-floral nectaries absent (ass.). Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent, or developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Entomophilous. Pollination mechanism conspicuously specialized (involving a stylar modification for pollen presentation).

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes (in a thyrse). The terminal inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences scapiflorous; terminal. Flowers pedicellate to subsessile (not articulate, flowers almost sessile between bracteoles); bracteate (opposite, linear-oblong); bracteolate (linear); small to medium-sized; very irregular. The floral asymmetry involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; (8–)10; 2 -whorled; isomerous, or anisomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; blunt-lobed. Calyx lobes elliptic to oblong. Corolla present; 5 (unequal); 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; lobed. Corolla tube adaxially deeply split. Corolla valvate; bilabiate; yellow (on wings), or red (brownish red in throat). Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth, or adnate; all equal (ass.); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; all more or less similar in shape (ass.); isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous (at the base of the corolla); all alternating with the corolla members. Anthers separate from one another; basifixed; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed in aggregates, or shed as single grains. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior to inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular (almost to the top). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; bearing an ‘indusium’ beneath the stigma. Indusium cupular. Styles apical. Stigmas 1; 2 - lobed. Placentation axile. Ovules 2 per locule; ascending; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy, or non-fleshy; indehiscent; capsular-indehiscent, or a samara (3–5 winged); several. Seeds copiously endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds winged, or wingless. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight.

Special features. The upper lip of the corolla incorporating 2 members, the lower 3; (posterior, adaxial) lip of the corolla bilobed. Lower (abaxial) lip of the corolla 3 lobed.

Etymology. From the Greek for "five" and "feather, wing"; the fruit is five winged.