Characteristics BRASSICACEAE/ CRUCIFERAE MALVACEAE FABACEAE/PAPILIONOIDEAE ASTERACEAE/COMPOSITAE POACEAE /GRAMINAE

One of the sub family of Family of

It is known as mustard family. It is known as mallow family.
leguminosae. It is also Also called sun flower family. Advanced cerearls
Mainly Mainly
General description termed as pea family. family. Largest family distributed through ubiquitous
distributed in tropics distributed in tropics
Distributed all over out the world in occurance
and substropics and substropics
the world. largest monocot family
Annual herbs
Habit Annual or perennial herbs Herbs, shrubs and trees. Trees, shrubs, herbs. (Helianthus, Annual or perennial Herbs
Tagetus, Dahlia)
Tap root, fusiform/
Tap root but in
napiform tuberous roots may Tap root with Fibrous roots, stilt roots in maize,
Root Profusely branched tap root. Dahlia fasiculated
found. root nodules. jowar, sugarcane
roots/fibrous roots

Usually herbaceous, erect, much branched

Herbaeous stem with (brancing rare in Grasses have hollow stem at
Erect, branched with Erect or climber,
Stem pungent watery fluid. Dahlia and Helianthus) solid, sometimes internodes. stem is
star-shaped trichormes. herbaceous.
Have stellate hairs. with milky latex. In Helianthus jointed called culm
tuberous stem stores food

Alternate, pinnately Usually alternate but occasionally opposite

Simple, alternate Leaves are narrow
Simple rarely compound, compound or simple (as Helianthus)
palmately lobed, alternate Leaf base is
Leaves alternate, sessile leaves, reticulate or in Whorl (Eupatorium),
stipulate, reticulate sheath like Venation is
exstipulate, reticulate venation. venation, pulvinate leaf base exstipulate, petiolate, simple
venation. parallel, Contain silica, hence hard
stipulate. or compound venation reticulate.

Head or capitulum with involucre of bracts

Usually two types of
florets are found in inflorescence viz,
zygomorphic, ligulate or ray
Solitary terminal or Spike of spikelets
florets and actinomorphic tubular or disc
Inflorescence Corymobse raceme or corymb. axillary cymose or Racemose, (panicle in Dalbergia) In maize, female -spadix,
florets. In inflorescence,
raceme. Male-spike, Wheat-compoud spike
ray florets are found towards the
periphery (they are older in nature)
and disc florets are distributed near
centre (thus younger)
Bracteate, sessile
Bisexual, actinomorphic Sessile, Bracteate,
Bisexual, bracteate, Bisexual, zygomorphic, actinomorphic (disc
(may be zygomorphic), bisexual, unisexual in maize,
actinomorphic, bracteate or ebracteate, florets) or zygomorphic
Flower hypogynous, Zygomorphic hypogynous
complete pentamerous, pentamerous, hypogynous, (ray florets) epigynous
bracteate/ebracteaete, Sterile bracts called glumes are
hypogynous. complete and pentamerous.
tetramerous. present
Characteristics BRASSICACEAE/ CRUCIFERAE MALVACEAE FABACEAE/PAPILIONOIDEAE ASTERACEAE/COMPOSITAE POACEAE /GRAMINAE

epicalyx formed by bracteoles

Perianth: Highly reduced, 2 in
is present below the calyx and
Four, free, polysepalous in two Five, gamolous 5 modified into hairs or pappus. number, reduced to pin head like
Calyx is protective in nature. Sepals
whorls, 2+2 valvate aestivation imbricate/valvate aestivation Persistent, help in fruit dispersal lodicules. In bamboo, 3 are
5, fused, gamosepalous,
present
valvate aestivation

Five, polypetalous,
papilionaceous (posterior 5, Gamopetalous,
Four, polypetalous Five, petals free, but
standard, two lateral tubular in disc florets
Corolla cruciform and reduced. basally adnate, twisted
wings, keel enclosing but ligulate in ray
valvate aestivation aestivation.
pistil and stamen), florets, aestivation valvate.
vexillary aestivaiton.
Stamens 5, absent in ray florets.
Numerous stamens Syngenesious (anther lobes are
Usually 3 but sometimes
Monadelphous fused laterally but the filaments are free)
Six stamens arranged in two Ten, diadelphous,(9)+1, 6 (as in Oryza), filament long,
epipetalous, epipetalous, anthers
Androecium whorls, 2+4, polyandrous anther dithecous, anthers versatile,
monothecous, extrorse dithecous fused to form a tube like
tetradynamous, dithecous. introrse. dithecous, dehiscence
anthers reniform, dehiscence structure around the style. Anthers
longitudingal.
transverse introse, dithecous, dehiscence
longitudinal
Monocarpellary (actually
tricarpellary but only one carpel is
Bicarpellary, syncarpous A compund pistil of functional),
monocarpellary, bicarpellary, syncarpous, unilocular,
superior ovary with two to many carpels, unilocular, ovary superior, style
Gynoecium unilocular with many superiour ovary. Style long, stigma bifid,
parietal placentation. syncarpous, axile long, stigma 2 and feathery (plants
ovules, single style, Ovary superior single ovule, basal placentation
Replum/false septum is present placentation. are always wind pollinated).
marginal placentation.
Placentation basal.

Usually cross pollination

piston mechanism Usually cross pollination
Usually cross pollination but self pollination in Favoured by protandry and Herkogamy Usually cross pollination
Usually cross pollination
Pollination Entomophily favoured by pisum and lathyrus Entomophily Anemophily
Entomophily
protandry and Herkogamy Entomophily In disc florets some times self pollination favoured by protandry
occurs by saftey mechanism

A single single seeded Caryopsis

Fruit Siliqua or silicula Capsule or schizocarp. Legume/Pod
seeded cypsela.
 Characteristics BRASSICACEAE/ CRUCIFERAE MALVACEAE FABACEAE/PAPILIONOIDEAE ASTERACEAE/COMPOSITAE POACEAE /GRAMINAE
Seed with curved embryo and
Seed Small non-endospermic scanty One to many and non-endospermic dicotyledonous, non endospermic monocotyledonous, endospermic
endosperm.

Floral formula

Floral diagram

i) The members of this i) These plants are used i) Members of this family are i) Oil Yielding plants : Helianthus annus i) Members of this family are mainly
family are sources of food, as food, e.g. mainly (sunflower oil), Carthamus (Safflower oil) used as food
e.g. Brassica campestris Abelmoschus esculentus used as food, i.e. pulses, e.g. gram, ii) Medicinal plants: Artemisia, Eclipta 1) Tritium aestivum
(mustard), (lady's finger). arhar, sem, moong, soybean, etc. alba used as hair tonic with (bread wheat) - a natural hexaploid
B. oleracea (cauliflower), Brassica Hibiscus cannabis (gongura) ii) Fodder, e.g. brahmi buti and commonly known as 2) Oryza sativa (Paddy)
rapa (turnip) and Raphanus sativus ii) Ornamentals, e.g. Trifolium, Sesbania, etc. Bringraj, -Chief cereal of India,
(radish). Althaea rosea (gulekhera), iii) Edible oil, e.g. soybean, ground Calendula officinalis bran oil obtained from husk
ii) Medicines, e.g. Iberis Hibiscus rosa-sinensis(China nut iii) Insecticide: Chrysanthemum 3) Zea mays (Maize) - food crop,
amara (gout and rheumatism), rose), iv) For fibres, e.g. sunhemp. cinerariifolium inflorescence unisexual, style
Lobularia (gonorrhoea), Lepidium iii) Medicines: roots and bark v) Ornamentation, e.g. lupin, sweet - Pyrethrum longest.
sativum (asthma and piles) of Urena lobata are used as a pea. iv) Food Yielding plants: Latuca sativa 4) Hordeum vulgare (Barley)
Economic iii) Ornamentals, e.g. Iberis cure for hydrophobia. VI) For the extraction of medicines, (Lettuce or Salad) -Oldest amongst cultivated plants.
Importance amara (candytuft), iv) Fibres, e.g. e.g Cicborium intybus (chikori powder/Coffee 5) Pennisetum typhoidum
Cherianthus cheiri (wall Gossypium sp. (cotton), mulaithi. blend) (Pearl millet or Bajra) -A food
flower), etc. Bombax ceiba (silk cotton) VII) Dye-Indigofera (blue) v) Weeds: Parthenium hysterophorus crop, straw used as fodder.
vi) oil- seeds of Brassica v) Edible oil, e.g. cotton. commonly called ii) Fodder - Cynodon, Panicum,
carrot grass or congress grass. Cymbopogon iii)
vi) Dyes - Carthamus (red), Sugar - Saccharum
Tagetus (Yellow) iv) Building material - Bamboo
v) Paper making - Grasses,
Bamboo