Flora of New Zealand Series

Infl. racemose or paniculate, sts large; branches subtended by bracts. Fls bi- or uni-sexual, actinomorphic or slightly zygomorphic; per.-segs unequal to subequal, ± connate into tube. Stamens 6, shortly adnate to tepals; filaments free; anthers introrse, linear, us. dorsifixed, 2-locular, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior or inferior, often beaked, 3-locular; placentae axile; style simple; ovules solitary in each locule or superposed in 2 series, anatropous. Fr. a capsule or berry. Seeds compressed; endosperm fleshy, surrounding small embryo. Rootstock a rhizome; stem stout, woody, short or sts forming a heavy trunk. Lvs narrow, us. simple, often thick, us. crowded towards apex of stem. Genera c. 20, mostly of tropics and subtropics.

The above family description is adapted from Hutchinson (Fam. Flow. Plants 2, 1959, 662) who remarks: "It is not clearly marked by any one character from the Liliaceae and is based mainly on habit".

Wunderlich (Öst. bot. Z. 97, 1950, 437–502) discusses Agavaceae, reviewing the embryology and the structure of the gynoecium, stamens and lvs in several genera, including Cordyline, of which she mentions 2 N.Z. spp. by name, but not Phormium. She leaves open the question whether Cordyline and Phormium are more properly placed in Agavaceae than in Liliaceae. but gives reasons for excluding Cordyline from the Tribe Dracaeneae.

Morice (J. Sci. Food Agric. 13, 1962, 667–669) summarises the recorded characteristics of seed fats of Agavaceae, as defined by Hutchinson, and points out that "in no other monocotyledon family is there such a high proportion of linoleic acid as there is in the Agavaceae". All the Cordyline and Phormium spp. investigated have seeds that are extremely rich in linoleic acid.