Hippocastanaceae
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Hippocastanaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Family Description - Fls hypogynous, evidently irregular, polygamo-monoecious; sep 5, imbricate, often connate below; pet 4 or 5, distinct, unequal, clawed, imbricate; nectary-disk small, extrastaminal, often unilateral; stamens (5)6–8, distinct, the inner whorl of 5 complete, the outer whorl incomplete; ovary (2)3(4)-locular, with a long terminal style and simple or obscurely lobed stigma; ovules 2 per locule, superposed on axile placentas; fr a loculicidal capsule, often unilocular and 1-seeded by abortion; seeds large, with a very large hilum; embryo massive, curved, one cotyledon generally much larger than the other, the radicle commonly folded into a deep pocket in the hard seed-coat; endosperm wanting; trees or shrubs with opposite, exstipulate, palmately 3–11-foliolate lvs and terminal mixed panicles of rather large and showy fls. 2/16, mainly N. Hemisphere
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Common Names
The horse-chestnut family