Name: Anthericaceae
Clades:
Agavaceae;
Asparagales;
Liliidae;
Lilianae;
Angiospermae;
Plants.
Region: Australia; southern Africa,
Madagascar, South-East Asia, Malesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand.
TaxonomyThese genera have often been included in the
Liliaceae s. lat., and Anthericaceae is sometimes treated as a synonym of
Asparagaceae. It has been treated as a Subfamily of
Agavaceae.
Genera: 20; Alania, Arthropodium, Caesia, Chlorophytum, Corynotheca,Dichopogon, Herpolirion, Laxmannia, Sowerbaea, Thysanotus, Tricoryne; ± 450–500 species.
Agrostocrinum, Alania, Anthericum, Arnocrinum, Arthropodium, Borya, Bottinaea, Caesia, Chlorophytum (
Asparagaceae-Agavoideae: APG III), Chamaescilla (or
Asparagaceae, or
Asphodelaceae?!), Comospermum, Corynotheca (or Phormiaceae), Diamena, Dichopogon, Diora, Echeandia, Eremocrinum, Hagenbachia, Hensmania, Herpolirion (or
Asparagaceae, or
Asphodelaceae?!), Hodgsoniola, Johnsonia, Laxmannia, Leucocrinum (or Hostaceae), Murchisonia, Paradisea (or
Agavaceae,
Asphodelaceae, or
Hyacinthaceae?), Pasithea(?), Sowerbaea, Stawellia, Thysanotus, Trichopetalum, Tricoryne.
BotanyRhizomatous perennial herbs; roots tuberous, fleshy or fibrous, leaves forming basal rosette with an erect, largely leafless scape bearing a terminal inflorescence.
Leaves linear, spirally set or rarely distichous, sheathing at the base; stipules absent.
Inflorescence a simple or compound raceme, spike or panicle, sometimes condensed into dense heads or clusters. Flowers generally actinomorphic, 3-merous, bisexual. Tepals 6, in 2 whorls, similar or slightly different in size and shape, white, yellow, blue or purple. Stamens 3 or 6, those with 3 with or without 3 staminodes; filaments free or basally fused, glabrous or variously hairy; anthers 2-locular, introrse, latrorse or extrorse, dorsifixed to epipeltate or more rarely basifixed, dehiscing by pores or longitudinal slits. Ovary superior, 3-locular; ovules 2–8 per loculus; placentation axile; style simple, erect, and apically 3-lobed or punctiform.
Fruit a loculicidal capsule or rarely a schizocarp (Tricoryne) or nut-like (Corynotheca); seeds usually 3–12, angled or rounded, brown to black.
Key1 Leaves chiefly basal, if some cauline then reducing in size up stem: 2
All leaves cauline:10
2 Tepals spirally twisted after flowering: 3
Tepals not spirally twisted after flowering: 5
3 Filaments all glabrous, or scabrous, finely pubescent or papillose; flowers blue or white to pale yellow: 4
Filaments with a tuft of narrow clavate hairs below anther; flowers yellow Tricoryne
4 Inflorescences annual; pedicels to 15 mm long; stamens of 2 lengths; capsule more or less 3-lobed; seed more or less globose; flowers blue or rarely white: Caesia
Inflorescence perennating; pedicels to 3.5 mm long; stamens equal in length; capsule not lobed; seed ellipsoid; flowers white to pale yellow: Corynotheca
5 Stamens 3, with 3 staminodes: Sowerbaea
Stamens 6: 6
6 Margins of inner tepals fringed throughout: Thysanotus
Margins of inner tepals entire: 7
7 Anthers linear, longer than filaments: Dichopogon
Anthers linear, usually shorter than filaments: 8
8 Filaments glabrous or minutely papillose; perianth white: Chlorophytum
Filaments hirsute or finely pubescent; perianth pale blue, purple or white: 9
9 Inflorescence subsessile, flowers solitary; filaments finely pubescent; plants mat-forming: Herpolirion
Inflorescence scapose racemes or panicles, flowers usually 1–9 per node; filaments hirsute; plants never mat-forming: Arthropodium
10 Inflorescence a terminal head-like umbel, flowers more or less sessile or shortly pedicellate; leaves usually tufted leaving leafless intervals on stems: Laxmannia
Inflorescences an axillary condensed bracteate umbel-like raceme, the flowers distinctly pedicellate; leaves crowded along stem: Alania