Tofieldiaceae
Encyclopedia
Tofieldiaceae is the botanical name
of a family
of flowering plants in the monocot order
Alismatales
. The family is divided into five genera
, which together comprise 20 or 21 species
. They are small, herbaceous plant
s, mostly of arctic
and subarctic
regions, but a few extend further south, and one genus is endemic to northern South America
. Tofieldia pusilla
is sometimes grown
as an ornamental
.
William Hudson
(1730-1793) named
Tofieldia for the British
botanist Thomas Tofield (1730–1779). The family Tofieldiaceae was erected by Armen Takhtajan
in 1995. Molecular phylogenetic studies
of DNA sequence
s have shown it to be the second diverging
clade
in Alismatales, after the most basal
clade, the family Araceae
. Before the segregation
of Tofieldiaceae was confirmed by cladistic methods, its genera had usually been assigned to Nartheciaceae
, Liliaceae
, or Melanthiaceae
. Tofieldiaceae is recognized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
in their APG III system
of plant
classification
.
The circumscription
of genera in Tofieldiaceae has been controversial. Many authors do not recognize Triantha as a separate genus from Tofieldia. A few authors have sunk other genera into Tofieldia as well. A phylogenetic analysis, based on two nuclear
gene
s and ten chloroplast
genes, has confirmed that all five of the genera are monophyletic and that Triantha and Tofieldia are close sisters.
perennials
. Leaves
equitant (distichous
and overlapping), isobifacial. Inflorescence
a raceme
. Calyculus present. Tepal
s free. Fruit
a capsule
, usually septicidal.
is from a DNA
paper that was published in 2011.
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
of a family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of flowering plants in the monocot order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Alismatales
Alismatales
Alismatales is an order of flowering plants including about 2500 species. Pleants assigned to this order are mostly tropical or aquatic.-Description:...
. The family is divided into five genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
, which together comprise 20 or 21 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. They are small, herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
s, mostly of arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
and subarctic
Subarctic
The Subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Alaska, Canada, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and northern Mongolia...
regions, but a few extend further south, and one genus is endemic to northern South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. Tofieldia pusilla
Tofieldia pusilla
Tofieldia pusilla is a flowering plant of the genus Tofieldia in the family Tofieldiaceae. It is also sometimes classified in the lily family, Liliaceae. Its common name is Scotch false asphodel...
is sometimes grown
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
as an ornamental
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
.
William Hudson
William Hudson (botanist)
William Hudson FRS was a British botanist and apothecary based in London. His main work was Flora Anglica, published in 1762. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1761.- Life and work :...
(1730-1793) named
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
Tofieldia for the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
botanist Thomas Tofield (1730–1779). The family Tofieldiaceae was erected by Armen Takhtajan
Armen Takhtajan
Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian , was a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figures in 20th century plant evolution and systematics and biogeography. His other interests included morphology of flowering plants, paleobotany, and the flora of the Caucasus...
in 1995. Molecular phylogenetic studies
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
s have shown it to be the second diverging
Cladogenesis
Cladogenesis is an evolutionary splitting event in a species in which each branch and its smaller branches forms a "clade", an evolutionary mechanism and a process of adaptive evolution that leads to the development of a greater variety of sister species...
clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
in Alismatales, after the most basal
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
clade, the family Araceae
Araceae
Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...
. Before the segregation
Segregate (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, a segregate, or a segregate taxon is created when a taxon is split off, from another taxon. This other taxon will be better known, usually bigger, and will continue to exist, even after the segregate taxon has been split off...
of Tofieldiaceae was confirmed by cladistic methods, its genera had usually been assigned to Nartheciaceae
Nartheciaceae
Nartheciaceae is a botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Such a family has only rarely been recognized by systems of plant taxonomy.The APG III system does recognize such a family and places it in the order Dioscoreales, in the clade monocots...
, Liliaceae
Liliaceae
The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
, or Melanthiaceae
Melanthiaceae
Melanthiaceae is a family of flowering perennial herbs in the Northern Hemisphere. The family has been recognized by relatively few taxonomists, and the circumscription has varied...
. Tofieldiaceae is recognized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to an informal international group of systematic botanists who came together to try to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge about plant relationships discovered through phylogenetic studies., three...
in their APG III system
APG III system
The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy...
of plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
classification
Biological classification
Biological classification, or scientific classification in biology, is a method to group and categorize organisms by biological type, such as genus or species. Biological classification is part of scientific taxonomy....
.
The circumscription
Circumscription (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....
of genera in Tofieldiaceae has been controversial. Many authors do not recognize Triantha as a separate genus from Tofieldia. A few authors have sunk other genera into Tofieldia as well. A phylogenetic analysis, based on two nuclear
Cell nucleus
In cell biology, the nucleus is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these...
gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s and ten chloroplast
Chloroplast
Chloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and other eukaryotic organisms that conduct photosynthesis. Chloroplasts capture light energy to conserve free energy in the form of ATP and reduce NADP to NADPH through a complex set of processes called photosynthesis.Chloroplasts are green...
genes, has confirmed that all five of the genera are monophyletic and that Triantha and Tofieldia are close sisters.
Description
Small herbaceousHerbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
perennials
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
. Leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
equitant (distichous
Phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...
and overlapping), isobifacial. Inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
a raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
. Calyculus present. Tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s free. Fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
a capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
, usually septicidal.
Genera
- HarperocallisHarperocallisHarperocallis is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Tofieldiaceae. Like many lilioid monocots, it was formerly placed in the Liliaceae. It contains the single species Harperocallis flava, which is known by the common name Harper's beauty...
McDaniel - Isidrogalvia RuizHipólito Ruiz LópezHipólito Ruiz López , or Hipólito Ruiz, was a Spanish botanist known for researching the floras of Peru and Chile during an expedition under Carlos III from 1777 to 1788...
& Pav.José Antonio Pavón JiménezJosé Antonio Pavón Jiménez or José Antonio Pavón was a Spanish botanist known for researching the flora of Peru and Chile during an expedition under Carlos III from 1777 to 1788... - Pleea Michx.André MichauxAndré Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...
- TofieldiaTofieldiaTofieldia is a small genus of flowering plants often classified in the lily family; it is also sometimes included in the newer family Tofieldiaceae. The genus sometimes includes species of genus Triantha. These are rhizomatous perennial herbs with spikes or racemes of lilylike flowers...
Huds.William Hudson (botanist)William Hudson FRS was a British botanist and apothecary based in London. His main work was Flora Anglica, published in 1762. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1761.- Life and work :... - TrianthaTrianthaTriantha is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Tofieldiaceae. Triantha has four species. One of these is endemic to Japan. The other three are native to North America...
(Nutt.Thomas NuttallThomas Nuttall was an English botanist and zoologist, who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841....
) BakerJohn Gilbert BakerJohn Gilbert Baker was an English botanist.Baker was born in Guisborough, the son of John and Mary Baker and educated at Quaker schools in Ackworth and York....
Phylogeny
The following phylogenetic treePhylogenetic tree
A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or "tree" showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities based upon similarities and differences in their physical and/or genetic characteristics...
is from a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
paper that was published in 2011.
External links
- CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: R-Z At: Botany & Plant Science At: Life Science At: CRC Press
- http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do;jsessionid=7EBBAEA3B947D536905A012BC6B6A1C4?find_family=Tofieldiaceae&find_genus=&find_species=&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearchTofieldiaceae] At: Plant Names At: IPNI
- Harperocallis flava And Pleea tenuifolia And Tofieldia And Triantha At: Liliaceae At: Volume 26 At: FNA At: eFloras.org
- NCBI Taxonomy Browser
- links at CSDL, Texas