Ripogonaceae
| Ripogonum | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ripogonum scandens in New Zealand | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: |
Ripogonaceae Conran & Clifford |
| Genus: |
Ripogonum J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. |
| Species: | See text |
| Type species | |
|
Ripogonum scandens J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. |
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| Ripogonum distribution map | |
Ripogonum (sometimes erroneously as Rhipogonum) is a genus of flowering plants confined to eastern Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea. Until recently this genus was included in the family Smilacaceae, and earlier in the family Liliaceae, but it has now been separated as its own family Ripogonaceae (sometimes Rhipogonaceae).
Like most species of the closely related Smilacaceae, most species of Ripogonum are woody vines. Differences from Smilacaceae include that Ripogonum lacks stipules, it has a wet rather than dry stigma, its seeds and leaves contain starch, and its guard cells contain oil.
The six species of Ripogonum are perennials, either vines or shrubs. The leaves, which may have several different arrangements, lack stipules. The stems may have prickles. The Australian species are bisexual; others are unisexual. Individual flowers have six white to pale green or yellow tepals. The ovary has three locules with two ovules per locule. The fruit is a berry with a few brown seeds.
In 1769, during explorer Lieutenant James Cook's first voyage of discovery, botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected specimens of "supplejack" (Ripogonum scandens) in New Zealand. The species was described in Solander's unpublished manuscript Primitiae Florae Novae Zelandiae and was illustrated by Sydney Parkinson. Cook again visited New Zealand in 1773 during his second voyage. While anchored at Dusky Bay (now Dusky Sound) in the South Island of New Zealand, he remarked in his journal:
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