Family: Cruciferae | General Description in Semi-Technical Terms

UNIT SEVEN : ANGIOSPERM
CLASS : 11

Family : Cruciferae 
The cruciferae is also known as mustard family. This family includes 375 genera and 3200 species. The plants are found abundantly in northern hemisphere and distributed worldwide. This family includes vegetables flowers and wild varieties. Some economically important plants of this family are :

• Brassica campestris, (TORI) Important for oil and vegetable 
• B. rapa, (Turnip) Important for vegetable 
• B. nigra, (RAYO) Important for oil and vegetable 
• B. oleracea, (CAULI) Important vegetable and Anticancer 
• Raphnus sativus (MULA) Important vegetable 
• Lepidium sativum (CHAMSUR) Important vegetable 

Habit habitat: Annual or biannual or sometimes perennial, herbs, rarely shrubs, wild or cultivated, terrestrial, mesophytic. 
Root: Tap root and branched or modified (fusiform e.g. Raphnus sativus, Napioform e.g. B.rapa), sometimes adventitious e.g. Roripa. 
Stem: Erect, herbaceous, branched, cylindrical, solid, hairy or glabrous, green, sometimes stem is condensed or thickened (B. oleraces, R. sativs) 
Leaf: Exstipulate, petiolate or sessile, alternate, rarely opposite, simple, cauline and ramal or radical, lyrate, lobed or entire, acute, glabrous, unicostate, reticulate venetation. 
Inflorescence: racemose, receme or corymb 
Flower: Ebracteate, ebractiolate, pedicellate, hermaphrodite, complete, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, hypogynous, tetramerous, small, white or yellow. 
Calyx: sepals-4, polysepalous, sepaloid, sepals in two worls, 2 in each whorl, hairy or glabrous, imbricate aestivation. 
Corolla: petals-4, polypetalous, cruciform, each petal consists of limb and claw, alternate with sepals, petaloid, valvet or imbricate aestivation. 
Androecium: stamens-6, tetramerous, polyandrous. Anther – bicelled, dithecous, basifixed, introse 
Gynoecium: Carpels-2, bicarpellary, syncarpous. Ovary - superior, unilocular or bilocular, placentation parietal. Style – short. Stigma – bilobed or glabrous. 
Fruit: Siliqua 
Seed: Dicotyledinous and non-endospermic 
Floral formula: __________
Systemic position 
     Kingdom : Plantae

          Division : Angiosperm 

                Class : Dicotyledonae 

                     Subclass : Polypetalae 

                          Series: Thalamiflorae
                                Order : Parietals
                                       Family: Cruciferae

Distinguishing characters 
Herbaceous stem, alternate leaves, racemose inflorescence, ebracteate, tetramerous, sepals – 4, polysepalous, Petals – 4, polypetalous, cruciform, stamens – 6, tetradynamous, fruit is siliqua.