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RUBIACEAE
PRESENTED
BY
V.NIVEDHITHA
BDU
CONTENT :
 SYSTEMATIC POSITION
 DISTRIBUTION & GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUBIACEAE
 FLORAL CHARACTERS OF RUBIACEAE
 HABIT & HABITAT – Ixora coccinea
 LEAVES
 INFORESCENCE
 FLOWER
 - COROLLA
 - CALYX
 ANDROECIUM
 GYNOECIUM
 PLACENTATION
 FRUITS
 SEED
SYSTEMATIC POSITION :
CLASS : Dicotyledons
SERIES : Gamopetalae
ORDER : Inferae
FAMILY : Rubiales
DISTRIBUTION & GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
RUBIACEAE
 This family includes 4800 to 5500 species.
 Family Rubiaceae belongs to order Rubiales of subclass gamopetalae in dicots.
 It is commonly called as coffee family, is large, mainly tropical, and quite readily
recognizable. It contains about 611 genera and more than 13,150 species, which are
found worldwide in most habitats.
 The main distinguishing features of the family are the characteristic stipules and
inferior ovaries.
 Pollination of Rubiaceae flowers is almost always by animals, including insects,
birds, and bats, and the flowers have a notably wide range of forms.
 The species of Galium, Oldenlandia, etc., are frequently found in the
temperate regions.
 The family is represented by several genera in our country, e.g., Cinchona,
Coffea, Adina, Hamelia, Ixora, Galium, Gardenia, Rubia, Morinda and
many others.
 Rubiaceae contains a variety of economically important plants.
 The fruits of a number of tropical Rubiaceae species are edible.
COMMON PLANTS :
 Coffea arabica (Coffee plant)
 Cinchona officinalis (Used for quinine production)
 Ixora chinensis (vetchi)
 Oldenlandia umbellate (Chaaya root)
 Morinda angustifolia
HABIT AND HABITAT:
HABITAT :
Terrestrial and rarely aquatic.
HABIT :
 Majority of plants are either trees or shrubs.
 The climbing habit is also found in the family. Some climbers are herbaceous,
whereas certain others are shrubby twiners.
 The epiphytes also occur, e.g., Myrmecodia.
 Certain species of Galium, Rubia, Oldenlandia, etc., are beautiful herbs
LEAVES :
 Simple
 Entire margin or slightly toothed.
 Decussate , rarely whorled , stipulates may be
interpetiolar.
 Usually connate stipules
 Often bearing mucilage secreting colleters.
 COLLETERS – produce mucilaginous compounds to
protect the young shoots
INFLORESCENCE:
 Usually the inflorescence is of cymose type, i.e., a dichasial or a panicled cyme.
 In Coffea arabica the flowers are found to be arranged in axillary cymes.
 The flowers of Oldenlandia are being arranged in panicle cymes.
FLOWER :
 The flowers are hermaphrodite,
 usually actinomorphic and either tetramerous or pentamerous.
 They are complete and epigynous.
 Sometimes the flowers become unisexual by means of reduction.
CALYX :
 The calyx consists of five or four sepals, gamosepalous.
 one or rarely more of the sepals become leaf like and white,
yellow or variously coloured.
 The aestivation is valvate.
Corolla:
 The corolla consists of five or four petals, gamopetalous.
 The corolla is tubular, campanulate or rotate.
 The aestivation is either contorted or valvate.
ANDROECIUM :
 It consists of five or four stamens.
 The stamens are epipetalous, i.e., they are inserted at or near the throat of the
corolla tube.
 The stamens alternate with the petals.
 In irregular corollas, the stamens are of unequal length and bent. (i.e., the
stamens are of different length).
GYNOECIUM :
 Usually the gynoecium consists of two carpels, syncarpous.
 Generally the ovary is inferior, the ovary is bilocular, with parietal placentation.
PLACENTATION:
 In general, the placentation is axile.
 One to many ovules are found in each locule of the ovary.
 The style is simple with globose stigma.
FRUIT:
 The fruit is a drupe, capsule or berry.
 They may be dry or fleshy.
 E.g., in Coffee and others; it is a capsule.
Seeds:
 Generally the seeds are small and more or less winged, endospermic, the flat
cotyledons of embryo lie face to face.
FLORAL DESCRIPTION ON Ixora coccinea :
Habit:
 A large cultivated ornamental shrub.
Stem:
 Erect, branched, solid, cylindrical, green, herbaceous or somewhat woody.
Leaves:
 Cauline , simple, opposite, sessile, stipulate, ovate, smooth
entire, acute, unicostate reticulate venation.
Inflorescence:
 Cymose, corymbose cyme.
Flower:
 Bisexual, actinomorphic, pedicellate, bracteate, bracteolate, complete, epigynous,
tetramerous.
Calyx:
 4 sepals, gamosepalous, superior, valvate aestivation.
Corolla:
 4 petals, gamopetalous, corolla tubular, twisted aestivation.
Androecium:
 4 stamens, epipetalous, inserted at the mouth of corolla,
polyandrous, sessile, anthers bicelled, introrse, dorsifixed.
Gynoecium:
 2 carpels (bicarpellary), syncarpous, ovary inferior, bilocular,
single ovule in each loculus, axile placentation, style very long,
stigma single, bifid.
Fruit:
 Berry.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE :
 Cinchona officinalis; The tree yields ‘quinine’ used for malarial fevers. It is grown in
South India and Ootacamund.
 Coffea Arabica; Eng.-Arabian coffee; Verna- Kafi .This is a large shrub. The famous
non-alcoholic beverage “coffee” is obtained from its seeds. This is a native of
Abyssinia, but now cultivated in the Nilgiris, Karnataka, Coorg and Travancore.
 Coffea liberica; Eng.-Liberian coffee-A non-alcoholic beverage is obtained from its
seeds. The bush is native of West coast of Africa, but now also cultivated in Karnataka
and Travancore.
 Ixora chinensis; Eng.-Chinese Ixora-This is a beautiful small shrub grown in the
gardens as an ornamental.
 Ixora coccinea; Eng.-Jungle flame Ixora; Verna- Rangan-This is a shrub, grown as an
ornamental. This is a good hedge plant.
 Gardenia latifolia; Verna-Papra -This is a small tree, usually grown as hedge plant.
Rubiaceae