| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order Type: Eudicots-Caryophyllids
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Phytolaccaceae
Family Common Name: Pokeweed Family
Genera: Phytolacca |
Defining Features: Some botanists
divide the family into four separate families based on four subfamilies
with distinct features.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Flowers are actinomorphic and bisexual (rarely zygomorphic or
unisexual). Inflorescences are indeterminate and flowers are small and
borne on an axillary or terminal raceme or spikes. Petals usually absent.
Flowers are often with many connate carples. Ovaries are superior and often
with axile placentation. Fruit and Seed Features: Dicotyledon. Fruit is
a berry. Seeds are with a curved embryo. Perisperm is present and 'mealy'
and endosperm is lacking. Vegetative Features: Habit as herbs, vines, shrubs
or rarely trees. Leaves simple and alternate. Foliage sometimes ill-scented.
Stipules are lacking.
Distribution: Tropical and
warm temperate, but mostly in Tropical America.
Economic Use: As a source
for dyes and for medicinal purposes. Poisonous.
Number of Genera Globally: 4
Number of Species Globally:
30
