Elaeocarpaceae

Elaeocarpaceae Juss., Essai Propr. Med. Pl. ed. 2: 87. 1816. nom. cons. 'Elaeocarpus Family'

Salient Features

The members are trees or shrubs.
Leaves simple, usually in spirals, often serrate, withering tred to orange, or yellow.
Inflorescence racemose or cymose.
Flowers pendent, usually bisexual, petals often apically fringed.
Stamens twice the number of sepals to many, originating centrifugally, in 5 antesepalous groups on enlarged receptacle forming androgynophore.
Gynoecium of 2-8 united carpels, locules as many as carpels, each locule with 1- many ovules.
Fruit a capsule or a drupe, seeds 1- numerous.

Diversity:

World- 9 genera, 644 species (The Plant List 2013); 12 genera, 615 species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016); 12 genera, 550 species (Mabberley 2017); 12 genera, 775 species (CoL 2021)
India - 2 genera, 33 species (Karthikeyan 2000); 3 genera, 42 species (BSI, 2021)
Indian Himalaya- 2 genera, 16 species (Singh et al. 2019)
Uttarakhand - 2 genera, 5 species (Pusalkar & Srivastava 2018)

General Characters:

Elaeocarpaceae in Watson & Dallwitz (1992 onwards)
Elaeocarpaceae in Stevens (2001 onwards)
Elaeocarpaceae in POWO 2021 (Plants of the World Online)
Elaeocarpaceae in Wikipedia

Systematic Position of Family in Different Systems of Classifications:

Systematic position in 2-Superkingdom, 7-Kingdom classification of Ruggiero et al. (2015)

Super Kingdom- Eukaryota, Kingdom- Plantae, Subkingdom- Viridiplantae, Infrakingdom- Streptophyta, Superphylum- Embryophyta, Phylum- Tracheophyta, Subphylum- Spermatophytina, Superclass- Angiospermae, Class- Magnoliopsida, Superorder- Rosanae, Order- Oxalidales

Bentham & Hooker (1862-83) ?

Class : Dicotyledons
Subclass : Gamopetalae
Series : Bicarpellatae
Orders : Personales

Engler & Prantl (1887-1915)

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Embryophyta Siphonogama
Subdivision : Angiospermae
Class : Dicotyledoneae
Subclass : Archichlamydeae
Order : Malvales
Suborder : Elaeocarpineae

Hutchinson (1973) ?

Phylum : Angiospermae
Subphylum : Dicotyledones
Division : Herbaceae
Order : Personales

Cronquist (1988)

Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Dilleniidae
Order : Malvales

Thorne & Reveal (2007)

Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Rosidae
Super Order: Oxalidanae
Order : Oxalidales

Takhtajan (2009)

Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Dilleniidae
Super Order : Violanae
Order : Elaeocarpales

Reveal (2012)

Class : Equisetopsida
Subclass : Magnoliidae
Super Order : Rosanae
Order : Oxalidales

APG-IV (2016)

Clade : Angiosperms
Clade : Eudicots
Clade : Core Eudicots
Clade : Superrosids
Clade : Rosids
Clade : Fabids
Order : Oxalidales

Shipunov (2020)

Class : Angiospermae
Subclass : Rosidae
Super Order : Celastranae
Order : Oxalidales

Genera & Species in Pantnagar

To see larger images please click on the names

Cultivated Flora

Elaeocarpus angustifolius Blume

Vernacular name: Blue Marble Tree, Blue Fig (English); Rudraksh (Hindi)

Nativity: Himalaya to China (POWO, 2019)

Common Characteristics: Medium sized trees. Leaves alternate, oblong to lanceolate, margin entire or scarcely crenate. Fruit globose, shiny.

Flowering period: May to June

Propagation Methods: Propagated by seeds (Flora and Fauna Web)

Photographed @ CBSH

Elaeocarpus floribundus Blume

Vernacular name: Indian olive

Nativity: Assam to West and Central Malesia (POWO, 2019)

Common Characteristics: Moderate sized trees. Leaves ovate- elliptic. Fruit ovoid, shiny, pointed at both end.

Flowering period: April to May

Propagation Methods: Propagated by seed (Indian Biodiversity Portal)

Photographed @ ATIC