Description:

• Annual or perennial herbs, or subshrubs, rarely shrubs; plants rarely monoecious, gynodioecious or dioecious; stems often swollen at nodes, often dichotomously branched
• Leaves opposite, decussate or apparently whorled, very rarely alternate, simple, entire, often slightly connate at base, sometimes succulent; stipules, when present, scarious, sometimes connate at base
• Inflorescences mostly dichasial, sometimes monochasial, rarely flowers solitary
• Flowers bisexual or rarely unisexual, regular, hypogynous or perigynous, sometimes obdiplostemonous, commonly protandrous
• Sepals (4)5, free or ± connate, imbricate, rarely valvate, sometimes subtended by bracts
• Petals (0)(4)5, or rarely more, sometimes minute, free, entire, emarginate, bifid or lacerate, clawed or not; aestivation contorted or rarely imbricate
• Stamens (1-4)5-10(11), in 1 or 2 whorls; filaments free or basally connate, or additionally connate with petals, then forming a tube which may be adnate to a gynophore; anthers 2-thecous, versatile, dehiscing longitudinally by means of slits; sometimes staminodes present
• Ovary superior, sometimes half-inferior, 2-5-carpellate, 1-locular, occasionally incompletely 2-3-locular below middle; ovules 1 to many, bitegmic, hemitropous to campylotropous, rarely nearly anatropous, on a free-central placenta or basal when 1; styles free or connate at base; stigmas as many as carpels
• Fruit either a capsule, splitting from apex with as many or twice as many valves or teeth as there are carpels, or a nutlet, sometimes enclosed in persistent calyx
• Seeds small, globose to pyriform or reniform, usually with variously sculptured testa, rarely smooth; endosperm little or 0; embryo peripherally curved around starchy perisperm, sometimes ± straight, rarely spiral

Classification Notes:

• In agreement with Bittrich (1993) Illecebraceae is included in Caryophyllaceae

Nomenclature:

• Caryophyllaceae
  • Jussieu: 299 (1789) name conserved
  • Candolle: 351 (1824)
  • Seringe: 351 (1824)
  • Fenzl: 955 (1840)
  • Bentham: 55 (1862)
  • Hooker: 12 (1880)
  • Pax: 61 (1889)
  • Lüders: 1 (1907)
  • Pax & Hoffmann: 275 (1934)
  • Chaudhri: 1 (1968)
  • Friedrich: 763 (1979a)
  • Friedrich: 749 (1979b)
  • Bittrich: 206 (1993)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera ± 80, species ± 2200, mostly north, temperate and cold regions, with a centre in the Mediterranean and Irano-Turanean region
• Southern Africa: Genera 22 (11 exotic), species 72 (18 exotic)

References:

• BENTHAM, G. 1862. Notes on CARYOPHYLLEAE, Portulaceae, and some allied Orders. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany 6
• BITTRICH, V. 1993. Caryophyllaceae. In K. Kubitzki, J.G. Rohwer & V. Bittrich, The families and genera of vascular plants - dicotyledons 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
• CANDOLLE, A.-P. DE. 1824. CARYOPHYLLEAE. Prodromus 1. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris
• CHAUDHRI, M.N. 1968. A revision of the Paronychiinae. Mededelingen van het Botanisch Museum en Herbarium van de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht 285
• FENZL, E. 1840. Order CARYOPHYLLEAE. In S.L. Endlicher, Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita 2. Beck, Vienna
• FRIEDRICH, H.C. 1979a. Caryophyllaceae. In G. Hegi, Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa, edn 2; 3,2
• FRIEDRICH, H.C. 1979b. Illecebraceae. In G. Hegi, Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa, edn 2; 3,2
• HOOKER, J.D. 1880. Illecebraceae. In G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker, Genera plantarum 3,1. Lovell Reeve & Co., London
• JUSSIEU, A.L. DE. 1789. CARYOPHYLLEAE, les caryophyllées. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita. Herissant & Barrois, Paris
• LÜDERS, H. 1907. Systematische Untersuchungen über die Caryophyllaceen mit einfachem Diagramm. Botanische Jahrbücher 40, Beiblatt 91
• PAX, F. 1889. Caryophyllaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 3,1b
• PAX, F. & HOFFMANN, K. 1934. Caryophyllaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien II,16c
• SERINGE, N.C. 1824. CARYOPHYLLEAE. In A.P. de Candolle, Prodromus 1. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris

Resources:

• Classification of Caryophyllaceae
• Key to Caryophyllaceae genera

• Caryophyllaceae genera: