Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Apiales Nakai
 Subordinate Taxa
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Umbelliferae
Synonymy:
  • = Apiaceae
 Description

Mostly monoec. to dioec. herbs; infl. us. a compound or simple bracted umbel, sts reduced to heads. Fls regular, 5-merous; calyx adnate to ovary, lobes often obsolete; petals us. valvate and inflexed in bud; stamens alt. with petals, seated on epig. disk; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise, us. inflexed in bud. Ovary inferior, 2-carpelled; carpels unilocular, with axile placentae. Ovules 1 per locule, pend.; styles 2, often swollen at base and forming stylopodia. Fr. a schizocarp of 2 mericarps cohering by their inner faces (commissure). Mericarps separating at commissural surface, us. remaining long suspended from the apex of a prolongation of the axis (carpophore); flattened to subterete, us. distinctly ribbed. Oil-tubes (vittae), if present, between or below the ribs. Seeds with minute embryo and cop. endosperm. Mostly biennial to perennial herbs with pith-filled furrowed stems; lvs alt., us. pinnately to palmately compound, with sheathing bases.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Number of species in New Zealand within Umbelliferae
CategoryNumber
Indigenous (Endemic)85
Indigenous (Non-endemic)8
Exotic: Fully Naturalised30
Exotic: Casual15
Total138
 Bibliography
Connor, H.E. 1977: The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Connor, H.E.; Fountain, J. 2009: Plants that Poison: A New Zealand Guide. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln.
Cronquist, A. 1988: The evolution and classification of flowering plants. The New York Botanic Gardens, New York.
Mabberley, D.J. 2008: Mabberley's plant book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Edition 3. Cambridge University Press.