Floral Formula of Solanaceae: Description, Symbol Representation, Systematic Position of Family, Characteristics, Features, and Economic Importance

Floral Formula of Solanaceae Overview

It's common to refer to the Solanaceae family as the potato family. It belongs to the angiosperm family. This family of plants includes both temperate and tropical plants, and they are found all over the world. It consists of fruits, vegetables, herbs, a variety of spices, agricultural crops, and other things. Additionally, the floral symmetry, ovary position, the number of components, insertion, connotation, and adnation of a flower are all determined by the floral formula.

What is Solanaceae?

The flowering plant genus Solanaceae, usually referred to as nightshade, belongs to the potato family. About 3000 species of plants belong to the Solanaceae family. Since they are frequently utilized as a food source and for the production of drugs, the majority of these species are quite significant, at least for economic reasons.

Read more about the Endemic Species of India.

What is the Floral Formula of Solanaceae?

The family of flowering plants known as the Solanaceae includes nightshades. It has 98 genera. The plants can appear as trees, shrubs, lianas, herbs, veins, bushes, and even epiphytes. It contains crops, weeds, ornamentals, spices, and medicinal plants. Examples include peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, etc. The floral formula of Solanaceae is as follows-

Symbol Representation of Floral Formula of Solanaceae

The following table represents the floral formula of Solanaceae-

Key Properties of the Floral Formula of Solanaceae

With the use of its broad key information, Solanaceae may be quickly identified. The following list of Solanaceae's salient characteristics includes-

1. Common name: The Solanaceae family, sometimes known as the nightshade or potato family, is well-known.
2. The Solanaceae family reproduces either by the production of seeds or fruit (either dehisced or intact).
3. Around 90 groups make up this family, which has a range of roughly 3000 species.
4. Distribution: The 90 groups that make up the sizable Solanaceae family may be found in both tropical and temperate climates. They may be found mostly in Central and South America. This family has 88 species and 15 groups prevalent in India. The majority of these plants may be found in gardens across India, and some of them can also be found in the Himalayas, in the south, and in the east.

Read more about the Floral Formula of Fabaceae and Floral Formula of Liliaceae.

Systematic Position of the Floral Formula of Solanaceae

The following are the systematic positions of the Solanaceae-

1. Kingdom: Plantae
2. Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
3. Super Division: Spermatophyta
4. Division: Magnoliophyta
5. Class: Magnoliopsida
6. Subclass: Asteridae
7. Order: Solanales
8. Family: Solanaceae

Read more about the Father of Biology and Gemmules.

Characteristics of Solanaceae

The following are some of the characteristics of the Solanaceae family-

1. About 3000 species make up the 90 groups that make up the Solanaceae family.
2. Fruits of plants belonging to the Solanaceae family can take the form of berries, which are also seen in Lyceum, or fruits like tomatoes or capsicum.
3. Most of the 3000 species are either tiny trees, shrubs, or herbs. 
4. Plants in this family can have aerial, branching, or upright stems. 
5. These kinds of plants undergo entomophilous pollination, which uses an insect as the pollinator.   
6. The majority of the plants in this family have endospermic seeds, which are classified as dicots because they have two cotyledons. 
7. These species' plants have tap roots that are also regularly branching.

Read more about the Difference Between Monocotyledons and Dicots.

Features of the Solanaceae Family

The large flowering plant family Solanaceae contains 102 genera and 2500 species. The following are some of the features of the Solanaceae Family-

Economic Importance of the Floral Formula of Solanaceae

The following are the economic importance of the Solanaceae family-

1. Numerous economically and nutritionally significant developed plant species, including the tomato, potato, aubergine, and bean stew pepper, are members of the Solanaceae family. 
2. They also include a variety of phytochemicals, such as polyphenolics, which are bioactive compounds with a range of beneficial natural features for health, including effects on cell support, cancer prevention, and hypolipidemic. 
3. The most abundant sources of lycopene, a red-hued carotenoid with several health benefits, like the prevention of illnesses, are tomatoes and tomato-based foods.
4. The tomato is perhaps the solanaceous plant species that is consumed and developed the most. 
5. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are abundant sources of vitamins, minerals, and other substances that are vital to human health. 

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Points of Remember

1. A flower's floral formula contains specific information on the symmetry, sex, and kinds and forms of the many floral components.
2. Each flower has 5 petals and 5 sepals (gamopetalous).
3. It is a symbolic representation that is written as an equation, with each symbol denoting a distinct concept.
4. Medicines contain Datura, Attropa belladonna, and Withania somnifera (ashwagandha).
5. The actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, pentamerous, hypogynous, bracteate, or ebracteolate flowers of the family Solanaceae are the norm.
6. The ovary is superior, and the gynecium has two syncarpous carpels.
7. There are five polyandrous stamens that are linked to the petals in the androecium.
8. While tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and capsicum are eaten as food. 
9. In several additional rites and rituals, flowers from the genus Lycium and the genus Solanum are used as decorations.