Distribution: The family solanceae compromises about 94 genera and 2950 species, distributed throughout the world. Mainly, genera are concentrated in tropical and temperate region, especially in southern hemisphere (South America).
Habit/Habitat: Annual herb, binneal herbs or shrubs, sometimes pennial shrubs, rarely trees and climbers. Most of the species are nesophytes. Few species are used in cultivation.
Root: tap root system, branched
Steam: Usually aerial, erect, branched, cylindrical, sometimes angular, often hairy, solid or fistular, sometimes stem is modified into underground tubers (e.g. Solanum tuberosum)
Leaf: Cauline, and ramal, exstipulateo, petiolate in lower vegetative parts but become sub-sessile to sessile progressively upward in flowering peduncle, often simple, sometimes pinnately compound, often hairy, margin entire or lobeled, unicostate reticulate venation, acute apex.
Inflorescence: Typically cymose, cymose cyme, axillary cyme, extra-acillary cyme
Flower: Ebrecteate, pedicellate, antinomorphic, bisexual, hypogynous, regular, cyclic, complete, showy
Calyx: Sepals-5, gamosepelou, tubular, campanulate, toothed, space perisistent, valvate aestivation.
Corolla: Petals-5, gamopetatous, infundibuliform or camponulate, valvate or rarely imbricate aestivation.
Androecium: Stamens-5, polyandrous, epsipetalous, cinnate, anther dithecous, basified or dorrified, filament start, introse, dehiscence by longitudinal slit.
Gynoceium: Bicarpellay (i.e. two carpels), sncarpous, ovary superior, bilocular, rarely tetralocular, many ovules in each locule, axile placentium, placenta swollen, ovary obliquely, placed style short and hairy stigma capilated or lobed.
Fruit: Many seeded capsule and berry
Seed: Endospermic, embryo carved or straight
Pollination: Cross, entomophilous
Classification:
Kingdom : Plantae
Sub-kingdom : Phanerogamae
Division : Angiospermae
Class : Dicotyledoneae
Sub-class : Gamopetalae
Series : Bicarpellatae
Order : Polemaniales
Family : Solanceae
Economically Important species:
- Solanum tuberosum : potato
- Solanum nigrum : black night shade
- Solanum melogena : bringal
- Lycopersicum esculentum : tomato
- Nicontiana tabacum : tobacco
- Capsicum annum : capsicum
- Petunia, Nicontiana, Datura etc are grown as ornamental plants
- Fruits : Physalis sp (ras bari)
Diagonostic Characters of family solanceae
- Aerial ports hairy
- Pentamerous flower
- Gamosepalous and persisted calyx
- Epipetalous stamens, connate anther
- Ovary placed obliquely
- Axile placentation with swollen placenta
- Fruit berry or capsule
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