Download Plant Families - Montana State University Billings

Plant Collections Due next Friday, November 21st
Plant Families
Things which are alike, in nature, grow to look alike.
Nobody
Moraceae
Utricaceae
Fabaceae
Fagaceae
Moraceae
Moraceae is a family of flowering plants
commonly known as the mulberry or fig
family. It comprises 53 genera and 1500
species of plants widespread in tropical and
subtropical regions, less common in temperate
climates. Included are well-known plants such
as the fig, banyan, breadfruit, mulberry, and
Osage-orange.

Moraceae
The Moraceae are monoecious or dioecious
trees shrubs, lianas, or rarely herbs, nearly all
with milky sap.
 The leaves are simple and alternate or rarely
opposite. The stipules are small and lateral or
sometimes they form a cap over the bud and
leave a cylindrical scar.

Moraceae

The flowers are unisexual and minute, and are
usually densely aggregated. These
aggregations frequently take the form of
pendulous aments or catkins.
 Usually, the perianth consists of 4 or 5
undifferentiated tepals, but sometimes fewer or
no perianth segments are present.
Moraceae
A typical male flower has four stamens, one opposite
each perianth segment.
 The female flowers have a bicarpellate pistil,
generally with two styles, although one may be
suppressed.
 The ovary is superior or inferior and contains a single
pendulous ovule in a solitary locule.
 Fruit types include drupes and achenes that are often
coalesced or otherwise aggregated into a multiple
accessory fruit.

Moraceae in Montana?
There are no representatives of this family
which are native to the state. Two genera of
this family that have been observed growing
here (but planted as ornamentals) are
mulberry(Morus spp.) and Osage-orange
(Maclura pomifera). Osage-orange is
marginally hardy in protected micro-climates
in Montana.

Morus alba
Family: Moraceae


Common or white mulberry
Grows in Montana but native to
China.
The ripe fruit is edible
and can be used in pies,
tarts, wines and
cordials.
Unripe fruit and green
parts of the plant have a
white sap that is
intoxicating and mildly
hallucinogenic.
Morus spp.
Family: Moraceae

Leaves on mulberries
are simple, undivided or
lobed, dimorphic,
serrate or denate, ovate
to broad ovate. They
are usually dark green
and shiny on adaxial
surface.
Morus spp.
Family: Moraceae
The leaves of a few species of the Morus
genus are used as food for silkworms. Morus
alba is one such species.
 Many birds and animals eat the fruit of our
native North American mulberry (Morus
rubra)

Cardinalis cardinalis in a mulberry tree in winter
Maclura pomifera
Family: Moraceae

Osage-orange, aka as
Hedge-apple, and bois
d’arc is native to
Arkansas to Oklahoma
and Texas but grown far
out of its native range.
The wood is very rot
resistant so makes good
fence posts. It is also
strong and resilient, so
is used to make bows.
Maclura pomifera
Family: Moraceae



The fruit of Osageorange is a large 4” to
6” wide globose syncarp
of drupes covered with
a yellow-green rind.
The fruits are heavy and
drop like bombs from
trees to dent car roofs.
Believe me!!!
Ficus carica L.
Family: Moraceae

Common fig has been
grown since earliest
times for its fruit.
Ficus carica L.
The fig is commonly thought of as fruit, but it
is properly the flower of the fig tree. It is in
fact a false fruit or multiple fruit, in which the
flowers and seeds grow together to form a
single mass.
 A fig is an involuted, nearly closed receptacle
with many small flowers arranged on the inner
surface. Thus the actual flowers of the fig are
unseen unless the fig is cut open.

Ficus benjamina L.
Family: Moraceae

Common ficus is widely
used as a houseplant in
our climate. It grows
into a large tree outside
in tropical to subtropical areas like
California and Florida.
Artocarpus altilus
Family: Moraceae

Breadfruit (Artocarpus
altilis) is a tree and fruit
native to the Malay
Peninsula and western
Pacific islands. It was
collected and distributed by
Lieutenant William Bligh as
one of the botanical samples
collected by HMS Bounty in
the late 18th century, on a
quest for cheap, high-energy
food sources for British
slaves in the West Indies.
Utricaceae
The Urticaceae (aka the nettle family) are
monoecious or dioecious herbs or infrequently
shrubs or small trees comprising 54 genera and
1160 species, often with specialized stinging
hairs.
 The leaves are alternate or opposite, simple,
and almost always stipulate.

Urticaceae

The minute, unisexual flowers are in cymose clusters.
The perianth is of mostly 4 or 5 undifferentiated
tepals or is sometimes absent. The male flowers have
a stamen opposite each perianth segment. The female
flowers have a single simple pistil with a superior or
inferior ovary that contains one basal ovule in its
solitary locule. The stigma is brushlike and elongated
or is capitate. The fruit is an achene or drupe; in a few
species these coalesce to form a multiple fruit.
Pilea spp.
Family: Urticaceae

Many different species
of Pilea are used as
ornamental plants both
indoors (in colder
climates like ours) and
outdoors in warmer
climates. Pilea
represents a large
number of species in the
family Utricaceae.
Urticaceae in Montana?


Dorn 1984 lists two genera in this family in
Montana:
Parietaria (1), Urtica (1)
Parietaria pennsylvanica
Family: Urticaceae

Pennsylvania pellitory is
native to Montana and
occurs in moist, shaded
areas throughout the state.
Pennsylvania Pellitory lacks
stinging hairs and its foliage
is harmless. This annual
plant is about ½–1½' tall
and usually unbranched, and
its leaves are ¾" across or
less.
Urtica dioica L.
Family: Urticaceae

Stinging nettles are a
dioecious herbaceous
perennial, growing to
three feet or more tall in
the summer and dying
down to the ground in
winter. It is edible
when young (lightly
steamed).
Urtica dioica L.

The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging
hairs and also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes)
whose tips come off when touched, transforming the
hair into a needle that will inject several chemicals:
acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and
possibly formic acid. This mixture of chemical
compounds cause a sting or paresthesia from which
the species derives its common name, as well as the
colloquial names burn nettle, burn weed, burn hazel.
Urtica dioica L.
Beware of stinging nettles when tromping through moist areas
in Montana.
Fagaceae
The Fagaceae (aka beech or oak family) are
monoecious trees and shrubs comprising 9
genera and about 900 species.
The leaves are alternate and spiral, simple but
often lobed, entire or serrate, with pinnate
venation. Stipules present but deciduous.


Fagaceae

The male flowers have a 4-7 lobed perianth of tepals
and 4-40 stamens and are usually grouped in
pendulous catkins. The female flowers are solitary or
in small clusters. They have a 4-6 lobed perianth of
tepals, and are often subtended by a series of
bracteoles comprising an involucre. The single
compound pistil of 3-6 carpels has an inferior ovary
with 3-6 locules and two basal or nearly basal ovules
in each locule. The fruit is called an acorn. It is a 1seeded nut that is basally enveloped by a cupule
derived from the involucre.
Fagaceae

Widespread in tropical to temperate regions of
the Northern Hemisphere.
 The family is exceptionally important as a
source of timber for construction of all kinds
of things.
 Chestnuts are edible, and acorns are also
occasionally eaten.
Fagaceae in Montana?
Dorn 1984 lists only one species of this family
occuring natively in Montana. This is
 Quercus macrocarpa Michx. , aka known as
burr oak. It grows on hillsides and canyons in
Carter and Powder River counties in extreme
southeastern Montana. It is planted in
landscapes throughout the state.

Quercus macrocarpa Michx.
Family: Fagaceae
Burr oak leaves remind some
people of violins.
Fabaceae
The Legume or Bean family (Leguminosae)
are mostly herbs but include also shrubs and
trees found in both temperate and tropical
areas. They comprise one of the largest
families of flowering plants, numbering some
630 genera and 18000 species.
 It is the third largest family of angiosperms.

Fabaceae
The leaves are stipulate, nearly always
alternate, and range from pinnately or
palmately compound to simple. The petiole
base is commonly enlarged into a pulvinus (a
cushionlike swelling at the base of the stalk of
a leaf or leaflet.)

Fabaceae

The flowers are slightly to strongly perigynous
(having sepals, petals, and stamens around the
edge of a cuplike receptacle containing the
ovary) , zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
and commonly in racemes, spikes, or heads.
Fabaceae
The perianth commonly consists of a calyx and
corolla of 5 segments each.
 The petals are overlapping (imbricate) in bud
with the posterior petal (called the banner or
flag) outermost (i.e., exterior) in position.
 The petals are basically distinct except for
variable connation of the two lowermost ones
called the keel petals. The lateral petals are
often called the wings.

Fabaceae
The androecium most commonly consists of
10 stamens in two groups (i.e., they are
diadelphous with 9 stamens in one bundle and
the 10th stamen more or less distinct).
 The pistil is simple, comprising a single style
and stigma, and a superior ovary with one
locule containing 2-many marginal ovules.
 The fruit is usually a legume.

Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Wisteria flower
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Many species have root nodules containing
nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Important food plants second only to Poaceae
in economic importance.


Fabaceae in Montana?
Dorn 1984 includes:
 Amorpha, Astragalus (many), Caragana,
Coronilla, Dalea, Glychyrrhiza, Hedysarum,
Lathyrus, Lotus, Lupinus, Medicago,
Melilotus, Onobrychis, Oxytropis, Psoralea,
Robinia, Sphaerophysa, Thermopsis, Trifolium,
Vicia.

Amorpha canescens Pursh
Family: Fabaceae
False indigo or leadplant
Astragalus purshii Dougl.
Family: Fabaceae
Wooly-pod milk vetch
Astragalus miser Dougl.
Family: Fabaceae
Timber milk vetch
Astragalus agrestis Dougl.
Family: Fabaceae
Purple milk vetch.
Dalea purpurea Vent.
Family: Fabaceae
Purple prairie clover
Glycyrrhiza lepidota Pursh
Family: Fabaceae
American licorice
Lupinus argenteus
Family: Fabaceae
Silvery lupine
Oxytropis lambertii Pursh
Family: Fabaceae
Purple locoweed
Oxytropis lambertii

This species can cause locoism, a chronic disease that
results after long-term grazing. The plant contains
swainsonine, an alkaloid, which results in cellular
dysfunction through a long biological process.
Affected animals show nervous system impairment,
with symptoms such as dullness and excitement, as
well as immune system impairment. Abortion and
congenital birth deformities may occur. Animals
affected include cattle, horses, and sheep. Animals
may become habituated to locoweed. Death can result
(James 1983, Cheeke and Schull 1985).
Locoism?
Oxytropis besseyi
Family: Fabaceae
Bessey’s Locoweed
Oxytropis besseyi
Family: Fabaceae
Bessey’s Locoweed
Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt.
Family: Fabaceae
Ground-plum milk vetch
Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt.
Family: Fabaceae
Native cultures in Montana used the fleshy, plum-like pods of ground-plum
milk-vetch for food…raw, boiled, or pickled.
Psoralea esculenta Pursh
Family: Fabaceae
Indian turnip or breadroot
Psoralea esculenta Pursh
Family: Fabaceae



Edible Parts: Root.
Root - raw or cooked. It can also be dried for later
use. The dried root can be ground into a powder and
used with cereals in making cakes, porridges and etc.
Starchy and glutinous, the raw root is said to have a
sweetish turnip-like taste. The plant is best harvested
as the tops die down at the end of the growing season.
This food is a staple and also considered to be a
luxury item by many native North American Indian
tribes.
From Plants for a Future website
Psoralea esculenta Pursh
Family: Fabaceae
Fleshy root of Indian Turnip or breadroot
I….Smell…..Beans…..
William Blake
Why do beans cause gas?
Beans (legumes) cause gas because they contain a
sugar, oligosaccharide, that the human body can not
break down. Oligosaccharides are large molecules
and are not broken down and absorbed by the lining
of the small intestine as other sugars are. This is
because the human body does not produce the
enzyme that breaks down oligosaccharides.
Oligosaccharides make it all the way through the GI
tract to the large intestine still intact. The bacteria that
live in the small intestine break down the
oligosaccharides.
 This produces the gas that must eventually come to
pass!
