| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order Type: Basal Angiosperms-Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Colchicaceae + Uvulariaceae
Family Common Name: Colchicum Family
Genera: Colchicum, Disporum, Uvularia |
Defining Features: Some botanists
place different genera (Disporum) of this family in Asparagaceae.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Inflorescence determinate or indeterminate and occasionally reduced
to a single flower. Flowers are usually bisexual, actinomorphic with 3
merous. Nectar is often being produced at the base of tepals. Ovaries are
superior with axile placentation. Fruit and Seed Features: Monocotyledon.
Fruit usually a dehiscent capsule and sometimes a berry. Seeds are flat
or globose and usually with oily endosperm. Vegetative Features: Habit
as perennial herbs with corms or rhizomes. Some species are twiners or
climbers. Leaves simple, alternate, with entire margin and often sheathing
at the base. Venation is usually paralleled with net-like in forest groups.
Stipules are lacking.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan.
Economic Use: As cultivated
garden ornamentals and medicinal (source of colchicines).
Number of Genera Globally: 21
Number of Species Globally: 235
