Solanaceae, Liliaceae and Fabaceae Family MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

Description of Some Important Families: Fabaceae

This family was earlier called Papilionoideae, a subfamily of family Leguminosae. It is distributed all over the world

• Vegetative Characters : Trees, shrubs, herbs; root with root nodules 
• Stem: erect or climber 
• Leaves: alternate, pinnately compound or simple; leaf base, pulvinate; stipulate; venation reticulate
• Floral characters
• Inflorescence: racemose
• Flower: bisexual, zygomorphic
• Calyx: sepals five, gamosepalous; valvate/imbricate aestivation
• Corolla: petals five, polypetalous, papilionaceous, consisting of a posterior standard, two lateral wings, two anterior ones forming a keel (enclosing stamens and pistil), vexillary aestivation
• Androecium: ten, diadelphous, anther dithecous
• Gynoecium: ovary superior, mono carpellary, unilocular with many ovules, style single
• Fruit: legume; seed: one to many, non-endospermic

Economic Importance:
- Source of pulses (gram, arhar, sem, moong, soyabean)
- Source of oil (soybean, groundnut)
- Dye (Indigofera)
- Fibres (sun hemp)
- Fodder (Sesbania, Trifolium)
- Ornamentals (Lupin, Sweet pea)
- Medicine 

Description of Some Important Families: Solanaceae

It is a large family, commonly called as the ‘potato family’. It is widely distributed in tropics, subtropics and temperate zones. 

Vegetative Characters

• Plants mostly herbs, shrubs and rarely small trees
• Stem: herbaceous rarely woody, aerial; erect, cylindrical, branched, solidor hollow, hairy or glabrous, underground stem in potato (Solanum tuberosum)
• Leaves: alternate, simple, rarely pinnately compound, exstipulate; venation reticulate

Floral Characters

• Inflorescence : Solitary, axillary or cymose as in Solanum
• Flower: bisexual, actinomorphic
• Calyx: sepals five, united, persistent, valvate aestivation
• Corolla: petals five, united; valvate aestivation
• Androecium: stamens five, epipetalous
• Gynoecium: bicarpellary obligately placed, syncarpous; ovary superior, bilocular, placenta swollen with many ovules, axile
• Fruits: berries or capsule
• Seeds: many, endospermous

Floral Diagram:

Economic Importance:

source of food (tomato, brinjal, potato), spices (chilli); medicine (belladonna, ashwagandha); fumigatory (tobacco); ornamentals (petunia)

Description of Some Important Families: Liliaceae

Commonly called the ‘Lily family’ is a characteristic representative of monocotyledonous plants. It is distributed world wide.

Vegetative characters: 

• Stem: Perennial herbs with underground bulbs/corms/ rhizomes
• Leaves:  mostly basal, alternate, linear, exstipulate with parallel venation

Floral characters

• Inflorescence: solitary / cymose; often umbellate clusters
• Flower: bisexual; actinomorphic
• Perianth tepal six (3+3), often united into tube; valvate aestivation
• Androecium: stamen six, 3+3, epitepalous
• Gynoecium: tricarpellary, syncarpous, ovary superior, trilocular with many ovules; axile placentation
• Fruit: capsule, rarely berry
• Seed: endospermous

Economic Importance:
Good ornamentals (tulip, Gloriosa), source of medicine (Aloe), vegetables (Asparagus), and
colchicine (Colchicum autumnale).