Ancistrocladaceae

views updated

Ancistrocladaceae A family of woody climbers in which the twig tips are modified to form coiled hooks. The leaves are simple and alternate, with stipples absent or soon caducous. Flowers are cymose, regular, and bisexual. They have 5 fused sepals and petals (the former enlarging in the fruit (a nut)), 10 (5) stamens, the ovary is half-inferior with a single basal ovule, and there are 3 connate styles. There is 1 genus, containing 12 species, with a disjunct distribution in W. Africa and South-east Asia.

More From encyclopedia.com