Plants dioecious, with thick roots merging into simple or branched subterranean stems
Stem tuberous, with leaf or leaves from apex of each stem or branch, alternating with series of small scale-like bracts
Leaves pinnate, 1-4 from each stem, somewhat fern-like, petiolate, deciduous; leaflets in several to many opposite or subopposite pairs, with a conspicuous midrib and dichotomously forked lateral veins
Cones with scales (sporophylls) arranged spirally, tightly imbricate upwards
Male scales with pollen cells stipitate on lower surface towards base; pollen ellipsoidal, without wings or air-bladders
Female scales stalked, with 2 ovules, 1 on either side and above pedicel and with micropyle directed towards cone axis; scale head, or bulla shield-like, with incurved lateral lobes
Seeds with fleshy outer layer tightly adhering to hard inner shell encasing copious endosperm; cotyledons 2
x = 6
Nomenclature:
Stangeriaceae
Hutchinson & Rattray: 25 (1933) pro parte
Dyer: 1 (1966)
Johnson & Wilson: 370 (1990)
Goode 24 (1989)
Distribution & Notes:
Southern Africa: A monotypic family confined to South Africa
References:
DYER, R.A. 1966. Stangeriaceae. Flora of southern Africa 1
GOODE, D. 1989. Cycads of Africa. Struik, Cape Town
HUTCHINSON, J. & RATTRAY, G. 1933. Cycadaceae. Flora capensis 5, 2 (Supplement)
JOHNSON, L.A.S. & WILSON, K.L. 1990. Stangeriaceae. In K. Kubitzki, The families and genera of vascular plants 1. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
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Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
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