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Fagaceae

Fagaceae
Fagaceae image
Aaron Flesch
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Kevin C. Nixon in Flora of North America (vol. 3)
Trees or shrubs , evergreen or deciduous, shrubs sometimes rhizomatous. Winter buds sessile, with few to many imbricate scales (2 valvate scales enclosing imbricate scales in Castanea ); terminal bud present or absent. Leaves alternate, spirally arranged, simple; stipules deciduous (usually), distinct, scarious; petiole present. Leaf blade lobed or unlobed, pinnately veined, margins serrate, dentate, or entire; surfaces usually pubescent, at least when young, sometimes with scales. Inflorescences unisexual or androgynous catkins; staminate and androgynous catkins spicate or capitate, rigid, flexible, or lax, consisting of few- to many-flowered clusters, bracts present or absent; pistillate catkins rigid or flexible, with 1-several spicately arranged, rarely solitary, terminal cupules bearing 1-3(-15 or more) pistillate flowers. Staminate flowers bracteate, bracts often caducous; sepals (3-)4-6(-8); stamens (3-)6-12(-18 or more); petals absent; anthers 2-locular, dehiscing by longitudinal slits, pollen sacs contiguous; pistillode often present and indurate, or vestigial as central tuft of trichomes. Pistillate flowers: calyx of 4-6 distinct or connate sepals; petals absent; pistil 1, 3(-6 or more)-carpellate; ovary inferior, locules as many as carpels; placentation axile; ovules pendulous, 2 in each locule, all but 1 in each pistil usually aborting; styles as many as carpels, distinct to base; stigmas dry; staminodes present or absent. Fruits nuts, sometimes winged, 1-seeded, subtended or enclosed individually or in groups of 2-3(-15) by scaly or spiny, multibracteate cupule; seed coat membranous; endosperm none; embryo straight, as long as seed; cotyledons fleshy, starchy or oily.

In the Western Hemisphere, Fagaceae are found from southern Canada to Colombia; they are absent or infrequent in most of the northern Great Plains and northern Rocky Mountain region.

Fagaceae are one of the most important families of Northern Hemisphere woody plants in terms of total biomass and economic use. They are widely used for lumber, firewood, and horticultural plantings; the nuts are often used for animal fodder and, in some species, for human food (particularly Castanea ). As dominants in forests, woodlands, and chaparral, native stands of fagaceous trees and shrubs provide optimal wildlife habitat, often harboring an exceptionally diverse insect fauna. Most of the diversity of the family in the Western Hemisphere is concentrated in the genus Quercus , with the greatest number of species in Mexico (at least 125 species), and a secondary area of diversity in the southeastern United States.

Polyploidy has not been reported in any natural populations of species of Fagaceae. Natural interspecific hybridization is common in the family, particularly in Quercus , and also in Castanea and Lithocarpus .

The most important diagnostic feature of Fagaceae is the cupule, which occurs as the cup or cap of the acorn in Quercus and Lithocarpus and the spiny bur that surrounds the fruits of Castanea and Chrysolepis . The cupule is sometimes referred to as an involucre. A true involucre, however, is made up of bracts, while the cupule has been shown to be a complex structure that is interpreted as an indurated, condensed, partial inflorescence formed by fusion of stem axes with several orders of branching, bearing bracts that are modified as scales and/or spines (see B. S. Fey and P. K. Endress 1983).

JANAS 27(2)
PLANT: Trees and shrubs; monoecious in ours; hairs unbranched or stellate. LEAVES: usually alternate, simple, deciduous in autumn or persisting nearly 1-3 years, often lobed, pinnately veined; stipules deciduous. FLOWERS: mostly wind-pollinated, unisexual, the perianth much reduced or absent; staminate flowers in heads or aments, the perianth greenish, the stamens 4-9 in ours; pistillate flowers usually tricarpellate, solitary or in clusters of about 3 or more, subtended individually or in groups by an involucre that develops into a woody cupule enclosing or subtending the mature fruit(s). FRUIT: a nut. NOTES: 8 genera, ca. 900 spp., widespread but absent from large portions of tropical S. Amer., tropical and southern Afr., and Australia. REFERENCES: Landrum, Leslie R. Fagaceae. 1994. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 203-214
Species within inventory project: Arizona Flora
Fagus grandifolia
Media resource of Fagus grandifolia
Quercus acherdophylla
Media resource of Quercus acherdophylla
Quercus agrifolia
Media resource of Quercus agrifolia
Quercus ajoensis
Media resource of Quercus ajoensis
Quercus arizonica
Media resource of Quercus arizonica
Quercus buckleyi
Media resource of Quercus buckleyi
Quercus canbyi
Media resource of Quercus canbyi
Quercus chihuahuensis
Media resource of Quercus chihuahuensis
Quercus chrysolepis
Media resource of Quercus chrysolepis
Quercus coahuilensis
Media resource of Quercus coahuilensis
Quercus coccinea
Media resource of Quercus coccinea
Quercus dumosa
Media resource of Quercus dumosa
Quercus durifolia
Media resource of Quercus durifolia
Quercus emoryi
Media resource of Quercus emoryi
Quercus fusiformis
Media resource of Quercus fusiformis
Quercus gambelii
Media resource of Quercus gambelii
Quercus gambelii x turbinella
Media resource of Quercus gambelii x turbinella
Quercus grisea
Media resource of Quercus grisea
Quercus havardii
Media resource of Quercus havardii
Quercus hemisphaerica
Media resource of Quercus hemisphaerica
Quercus hypoleucoides
Media resource of Quercus hypoleucoides
Quercus hypoxantha
Media resource of Quercus hypoxantha
Quercus ilex
Media resource of Quercus ilex
Quercus lobata
Media resource of Quercus lobata
Quercus mcvaughii
Media resource of Quercus mcvaughii
Quercus mohriana
Media resource of Quercus mohriana
Quercus muehlenbergii
Media resource of Quercus muehlenbergii
Quercus oblongifolia
Media resource of Quercus oblongifolia
Quercus palmeri
Media resource of Quercus palmeri
Quercus perpallida
Media resource of Quercus perpallida
Quercus pungens
Media resource of Quercus pungens
Quercus rugosa
Media resource of Quercus rugosa
Quercus rysophylla
Media resource of Quercus rysophylla
Quercus shumardii
Media resource of Quercus shumardii
Quercus suber
Media resource of Quercus suber
Quercus subtriloba
Media resource of Quercus subtriloba
Quercus texana
Media resource of Quercus texana
Quercus toumeyi
Media resource of Quercus toumeyi
Quercus tuberculata
Media resource of Quercus tuberculata
Quercus turbinella
Media resource of Quercus turbinella
Quercus virginiana
Media resource of Quercus virginiana
Quercus welshii
Media resource of Quercus welshii
Quercus x pauciloba
Media resource of Quercus x pauciloba
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