Washington Flora Checklist
A Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Washington State
Hosted by the University of Washington Herbarium

 

Checklist » Juncaginaceae » Lilaea scilloides

Lilaea scilloides (Poir.) Hauman [FNA22, H&C]
Juncaginaceae
flowering quillwort

Origin: Native

Voucher:WTU (view specimen records)

Notes: FNA22: "The taxonomic position of Lilaea is uncertain. The genus often is treated as a monotypic family (Lilaeaceae) that is closely allied to the Juncaginaceae. Lilaea, for example, possesses lactifers, unknown in other Juncaginaceae. The lactifers, plus uncertainty regarding the interpretation of floral morphology in Lilaea, prompted a decision to retain it in the Liliaeaceae pending further study (P. B. Tomlinson 1982). Embryologic, cytologic, and palynologic evidence, however, indicate a close relationship between Lilaea and other genera of the Juncaginaceae. Despite the presence of lactifers, Lilaea has been considered similar enough to warrant the inclusion of the genus in the Juncaginaceae (A. Cronquist 1981). Molecular evidence also corroborates the close relationship between Lilaea and Triglochin (D. L. Les and R. R. Haynes 1995)."

Literature:
» Les, D. H. and R. R. Haynes. 1995. Systematics of Alismatiflorae: A synthesis of molecular and non-molecular approaches. In: P. Rudell, P. et al., eds. 1995. Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Great Britain. Pp. 353--377.

Photo © Ben Legler
(from WTU Image Collection)

Taxon treatment authored by Peter F. Zika; last updated 1/6/2009 by David Giblin
Synonyms
Lilaea subulata Humb. & Bonpl.   [Peck, Abrams]




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