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Family Liliaceae, its Examples and Economic Importance

It is commonly called onion family.

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERS:

Plants generally Perennial herbs, perennating by rhizomes, bulbs, corns; rarely shrubs or trees.

Root: Usually adventitious, fibrous, sometimes tuberous to store food as in Asparagus.

Stem: Herbaceous or woody, aerial or under groud, aerial stem erect or climbing, under ground rhizomes or bulbs. In puscus and Asparagus branches are modified into leaf like structures the phylloclades.

FLORAL CHARACTERS:

INFLORUSCENCE: Raceme, Panicle, Asphodelus), Cymose umbel in Alluim, few species have solitary flowers, (Tulipa).

Flower: Regular, actinomorphic, rarely zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, rarely unisexual (smitax and Ruscus), hypogynous, outer floral whorls uniform in size or colour and known as perianth, trinerous but dimerous in Maianthermum.

Perianth: Six, in two whorls, gamophyllous, occasionally pollyphyllous (Tulipa), inferior, green or petaloid. In trillium perianth is diiferentiated into green sepals and white or coloured petals.

Androecium: Siz, in two whorls, rarely 3 (Russens), Polyandrous, epiphyllous, anthers oblond or linear, 2 cells opening mostly by longitudinal slits and introse.

Gynoecium: Tricorpellary, syncarpous, ovary superior. Semi inferior in Mondo, ovules numberous, axile placentation style simple; stigma three lobed.

Fruit: A loculicidal (Aloe) or a seplicidal (Gloriosa), capsule or berry (Asparagus and smilax).

Seeds albuminous.

FLORAL FORMULA:

+, ♀, P(3+3) or 3+3, A3+3, G(3).

e.g.: True lily (Liluim), Tulip, Onion (Alluim capa), Asparangus garlic (Allium sativum), Smilax and Ruscus.

FIGURE 339 PAGE 441 ANGIOSPERM BY G. L. CHOPRA

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE:

(1) Onion and Garlic are used as food. Asparagus are edible.

(2) Fibres or yucca and few others are used as food.

(3) Slimax, Aloe and others yield useful drugs.

(4) Dracaena yields red resions juice the dragon’s blood.

(5) Many species are used as ornamental plants.

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