Geraniaceae
| Geraniaceae | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Geranium rotundifolium | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Geraniales |
| Family: |
Geraniaceae Juss. |
| Type genus | |
| Geranium |
|
| Type species | |
|
Geranium sylvaticum |
|
| Genera | |
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Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus Geranium. The family includes both the genus Geranium (the cranesbills, or true geraniums) and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other related genera.
The family comprises 830 species in five to seven genera. Numerically, the most important genera are Geranium (430 species), Pelargonium (280 species) and Erodium (80 species).
Geraniaceae are herbs or subshrubs. The Sarcocaulon are succulent, but other members of the family generally are not.
Leaves are usually lobed or otherwise divided, sometimes peltate, opposite or alternate and usually have stipules.
The flowers are generally regular, or symmetrical. They are hermaphrodite, actinomorphic (radially symmetrical, like in Geranium) or slightly zygomorphic (with a bilateral symmetry, like in Pelargonium). The calyx and the corolla are both pentamerous (with five lobes), petals are free while sepals are connate or united at the base. The androecium consists in two whorls of five stamens each, some of which can be unfertile; the pistil consists of five (less commonly three) merged carpels. The linear stigmas are free, and the ovary is superior. Flowers are usually grouped in cymes (e.g. in Geranium), umbels (e.g. in Pelargonium) or, more rarely, spikes.
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Wikipedia