Frankeniaceae
Y. Nasir
Stewart Herbarium, Gordon College, Rawalpindi.
Perennial herbs or undershrubs. Stem jointed, often with deposition of calcium carbonate. Leaves simple, opposite, exstipulate. Flowers axillary, solitary or in dichasial cymes, hermaphrodite, regular. Calyx tubular, 4-6 lobed, persistent. Petals 4-7, clawed, free. Stamens 3-24. Carpels usually 3, syncarpous; ovary unilocular; placentation parietal with indefinite ovules. Capsule loculicidal, enclosed within the persistent calyx; seeds many, small.
A family of 5 genera and about 75 species; widely distributed in deserts and sandy coastal areas throughout the world. Closely related to Tamari¬caceae from which it can be distinguished by its opposite leaves, the connate sepals and the flowers which are axillary solitary or in dichasial cymes.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the United States Department of Agriculture for financing this research under P.L. 480.
