Cruciferae

Abstract

Annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, subshrubs, shrubs, or rarely small trees or vines, containing glucosinolates (mustard-oil glucosides). Indumentum lacking or of simple, furcate, dendritic, or stellate, unicellular trichomes, very rarely with additional uni- or multicellular glands. Leaves alternate or very rarely opposite, sometimes confined to a basal rosette, exstipulate, simple, entire or lobed to pinnatisect, rarely pinnate or palmate; stomata usually anisocytic. Inflorescences indeterminate, racemes or rarely spikes, often aggregated, usually ebracteate. Flowers hypogynous, actinomorphic or rarely zygomorphic, perfect or very rarely imperfect. Sepals 4, imbricate, almost always free, usually caducous; lateral (inner) pair often saccate or very rarely spurred. Petals 4, rarely absent, alternating with sepals, free, usually clawed, imbricate, entire or rarely divided. Stamens usually 6, rarely 2 or 4, or very rarely 8--24, usually outer 2 shorter than inner 4 (tetradynamous), rarely equal in length or in 3 pairs of different length; filaments filiform, sometimes winged or appendaged at base, free or rarely those of median pairs connate; anthers tetrasporangiate, introrse or extrorse. Nectar glands receptacular, of various shapes, sizes, and dispositions around filament bases. Gynoecium 2-carpellate, syncarpous, sessile or rarely stipitate, 2-locular with a false septum or rarely unilocular; ovules 1--300, campylotropous or anatropous, bitegmic, crassinucellate or more rarely tenuinucellate, usually pendulous. Fruit typically a bivalved capsule usually dehiscing longitudinally from below, commonly called a silique (when 3 or more times longer than wide) or silicle (when less than 3 times longer than wide), or fruit indehiscent, nut-like, schizocarpic, samaroid, or lomentaceous. Seeds almost exalbuminous, winged or wingless, seed coat sometimes mucilaginous when wetted; embryo oily, strongly curved or variously folded; germination epigeal.