Linnaeoideae is a subfamily of the family
Caprifoliaceae
The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species in 33 to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and easte ...
. It was formerly treated as the separate family Linnaeaceae. Five or six genera are placed in the subfamily, which ranges from creeping to erect shrubs. Most genera and species are
native to East Asia, particularly China. One genus is native to Mexico, and ''
Linnaea borealis'' occurs around the Northern Hemisphere.
Description
Linnaeoideae consists of shrubby plants that are mainly deciduous, but may be evergreen. Some, such as ''Linnaea'', are creeping, others, such as ''Abelia'', may be up to tall. The usually paired flowers are surrounded by an 'epicalyx' – a structure resembling the
calyx that is composed of
involucral bracts
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale.
Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...
. A
nectary
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, ...
is present inside the tube of the
corolla. Two of the three or four
locule
A locule (: locules) or loculus (; : loculi) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus).
In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usually refers to a chamber within an ovary ...
s of the inferior
ovary
The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...
are sterile and are empty at maturity. There are four
stamen
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s. The fruit is an
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...
, topped by usually persistent sepals.
[
]
Taxonomy
The subfamily Linnaeoideae was erected by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; 22 October 178318 September 1840) was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ult ...
in 1820. In 1998, Anders Backlund raised it to the full family Linnaeaceae.[ The ]APG IV system
The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was publish ...
reduced it again to a subfamily of Caprifoliaceae, a position supported in a 2024 review of the systematics of the Caprifoliaceae.[
]
Genera
Six genera were included in a 2015 molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study of the subfamily.[ , the same genera were included by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, although two of them were synonymized.][ , all six genera were accepted by ]Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
.[
*'' Abelia'' R.Br.
*'']Diabelia
''Diabelia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae
The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species in 33 to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan dis ...
'' Landrein (may be treated as a synonym of ''Abelia''[)
*'' Dipelta'' Maxim.
*'' Kolkwitzia'' Graebn.
*'' Linnaea'' L.
*'' Vesalea'' M.Martens & Galeotti
Some older sources also include the genus '' Zabelia'',][ but this is excluded in other sources, which may place it in its own subfamily, Zabelioideae.][
]
Phylogeny
A study published in 2015 included the following cladogram showing the possible relationships among the genera included in the subfamily. Four purely Asian genera formed a subclade, distinct from the circumboreal ''Linnaea'' and the Mexican ''Vesalea''.[
]
Distribution
Linnaeoideae has a disjoint distribution. Four genera (''Abelia'', ''Diabelia'', ''Dipelta'', and ''Kolkwitzia'') are native to East Asia, primarily China. ''Vesalea'' is native to Mexico. The monospecific genus ''Linnaea'' has a very wide distribution throughout the subarctic and temperate Northern Hemisphere.[
]
Cultivation
Some of the shrubby species are grown as ornamental plants. , five cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s of ''Abelia'' had gained the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
, as had one species of ''Dipelta'', one cultivar of ''Kolkwitzia'', and one species of ''Vesalea''.[
File:Abelia chinensis—flowers.jpg, '' Abelia chinensis''
File:Abelia spathulata ツクバネウツギ 衝羽根空木 やしろの森公園DSCF8779.JPG, '']Diabelia spathulata
''Diabelia spathulata'', synonym ''Abelia spathulata'', is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae). It is a shrub native to southern Korea and central and southern Japan.
Three varieties are accepted.
*''Diabelia ...
''
File:DipeltaFloribunda.jpg, '' Dipelta floribunda''
File:Kolkwitzia amabilis4.jpg, '' Kolkwitzia amabilis''
File:Linnaea borealis - Karen Dillman.jpg, '' Linnaea borealis''
File:Abelia floribunda (18154046245).jpg, '' Vesalea floribunda''
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18674561, from2=Q134924
Caprifoliaceae
Asterid subfamilies