Dioncophyllaceae

Hook blade ( Triphyophyllum peltatum )

The hook -leaved plants ( Dioncophyllaceae ) are a family of the order Caryophyllales ( Caryophyllales ) with three monotypic genera. The family is already in use fossil from the Eocene.

Description

All species are large, weichholzige lianas and climb through forked hook, originating at the top of the midrib of the leaf. The parallel venation rosette leaves are long. The plants are hermaphroditic. They form seed capsules. The seeds germinate kryptokotylar, the chromosome number. The hook blade is distinguished by its ( optional ) carnivory.

Dissemination

The family is native to the lowland rain forests of West Africa, where they settled nutrient-poor soils.

System

Since their discovery, the systematic position of the hook -leaved plants was controversial until recent genetic studies (which were supported by biochemical studies ) they placed as a member of the carnation -like, as a sister group of the Ancistrocladaceae and closely related to the (mono generic ) Taublattgewächsen.

The hook -leaved plants include three genera with only one each type:

• Hook blade ( Triphyophyllum peltatum ( Hutch. & Dalziel ) Airy Shaw)
• Habropetalum dawei ( Hutch & Dalziel ) Airy Shaw
• Dioncophyllum thollonii Baill.