| # The Families of Angiosperms |

L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz

### Lophopyxidaceae (Engl.) H.H. Pfeiff.

~ Celastraceae.

Habit and leaf form. Small trees, or lianas. Self supporting, or climbing; the lianes tendril climbers (some of the inflorescences modified into coiled, watchspring tendrils). Leaves alternate; without marked odour; simple. Lamina entire. Leaves stipulate. Lamina margins crenate, or serrate.

Axial (stem, wood) anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring (?).

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers functionally male and functionally female. Unisexual flowers present. Plants monoecious. Female flowers with staminodes (five, oppositipetalous, concrescent into a five-lobed disk). Floral nectaries present. Nectar secretion from the androecium.

Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in panicles and in glomerules. Inflorescences axillary; consisting of loose panicles of glomerules. Flowers small; regular; 5 merous; cyclic. Free hypanthium absent.

Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (the corolla much smaller); 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; very shortly gamosepalous; persistent; valvate. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous (the petals not contiguous).

Androecium of male flowers 10. Androecial members free of the perianth (the stamens), or adnate (the staminodes); free of one another. Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 5 (spreading, oppositipetalous, adnate to the subtending petals). Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous (alternating with the staminodes); filantherous (the filaments filiform). Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen grains aperturate; 3–4 aperturate; colporate.

Gynoecium in female flowers, 4–5 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth to isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 4–5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 4–5 locular (ovoid-oblong, shallowly ribbed, pubescent). Gynoecium non-stylate. Stigmas 4–5 (sessile, subulate). Placentation axile to apical. Ovules 2 per locule; pendulous; arillate (“each surmounted by an obturator-like appendage”: Airy Shaw); anatropous.

Fruit non-fleshy; indehiscent; a samara (with five broad, stramineous wings); 1 seeded (and one-locular). Seeds endospermic.

Physiology, phytochemistry. Berberine absent.

Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Malaysia.

Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Santaliflorae; Celastrales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Celastrales. APG III core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; fabid. APG IV Order Malpighiales.

Species 2. Genera 1; only genus, Lophopyxis.

General remarks. Noticeably differing from Celastraceae sensu stricto (q.v.) only in exhibiting tendrils and 10 androecial members.

Illustrations. • Lophopyxis maingayi: Hook. Ic. Pl. 18 (1887).

We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, distributions of character states within any set of taxa, geographical distribution, genera included in each family, and classifications (Dahlgren; Dahlgren, Clifford, and Yeo; Cronquist; APG). See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.

Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 8th June 2026. delta-intkey.com’.

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