Berula W.D.J.Koch

Scientific Description

Family Apiaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs; bearing essential oils, or without essential oils (?); resinous, or not resinous (?). Perennial; stoloniferous. Often hydrophytic, or helophytic. Leaves submerged and emergent (when aquatic); medium-sized to large; alternate; ‘herbaceous’; petiolate. Petioles sheathing. Leaves more or less sheathing. Leaf sheaths with free margins. Leaves gland-dotted, or not gland-dotted (?); aromatic, or foetid, or without marked odour (?); compound; peltate, or not peltate (?); pulvinate, or epulvinate (?); pinnate, or multiply compound (3–4-pinnate when submerged). Leaflets 5–29; ovate. Leaf blades pinnately veined. Leaves with stipules, or without stipules (?). Leaf blade margins serrate. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent. Stem anatomy. Nodes multilacunar, or tri-lacunar (?). Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous (?); from a single cambial ring.

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in umbels. Inflorescences compound. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, or leaf-opposed; rays few, spreading. Flowers pedicellate. Pedicels spreading. Flowers bracteate. Bracts narrow. Flowers bracteolate. Bracteoles conspicuous. Flowers small; regular to somewhat irregular (?); 5 merous (except for the gynoecium); cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (but the calyx very reduced), or petaline (by misinterpretation); 10, or 5 (by misinterpretation); 2 -whorled, or 1 -whorled (by misinterpretation); isomerous; white. Calyx present to vestigial; when detectable, 5; 1 -whorled; persistent; with the median member posterior. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; valvate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular (?); white. Petals obovate. Corolla members entire (apex narrow). Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal to markedly unequal (?); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; inflexed in bud. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium median. Epigynous disk present. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 2; free to partially joined (their bases thickened into a conical stylopodium crowning the ovary); apical. Stigmas wet type; non-papillate; Group IV type. Placentation axile, or apical (?). Ovules 1 per locule, or 2 per locule (usually two, but one abortive ?); pendulous; epitropous; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; a schizocarp. Mericarps 2 (united facially, ribbed). Seeds 1 per mericarp. Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo achlorophyllous; straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found. Photosynthetic pathway: C₃.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Adventive. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria.

Additional characters Petals inflexed.