pinnate venation. Flowers are produced singly in the axils of leaves. They have 3, 4 or 5 petals, mostly white. Fruits are ridged or tuberculate schizocarps (nutlets). Systematics of Limnanthaceae When Robert Brown created the family Limnanthaceae in 1833 he declared that, "the place of this new family is not absolutely determined; but it is suggested that in two remarkable points of its structure, namely, the presence of glands subtending the alternate filaments, and the existence of a gynobase, it more nearly approaches to Hypogynous families than to Perigynous, with which it has hitherto been associated". Ultimately he demurred from assigning a systematic position to his family. Subsequent taxonomists promoted various divergent placements. Bentham and Hooker (1862) decided that given the great similarity of Limnanthes and Floerkea to taxa in the Geraniaceae, family status was not warranted; accordingly, they placed both genera in the tribe Limnantheae in that family. Engler and Prantl (1896), however, disagreed, noting that the position of the seed indicated the family should be placed in the Sapindales. Most recent authors of taxonomic treatises have maintained the family Limnanthaceae but placed it in the order Geraniales, including Thorne (1976) Cronquist (1988), who nevertheless states that Limnanthaceae are, "without...obvious affinities..." and Takhtajan (1980). Hutchinson (1973), proposed that Limnanthaceae should be included in Geraniales, but its similarity to Caryophyllales (which he believed is derived from Geraniales) suggested that Limnanthaceae form a link between these two groups. A number of studies over the years have noted various morphological, developmental and embryological characters at variance with the Geraniales (as well as other groups to which Limnanthaceae have been assigned). Maheshwari and Johri (1956) conducted an extensive investigation of the morphology of Floerkea noting that, among other things, the herbaceous habit, gynobasic style, unusual type of tetrasporic embryo sac and basal parietal placentation of the unitegmic, tenuinucellate ovules differ from the Geraniales which has among its woody to herbaceous members, (at most) lobed syncarpous gynoecia, monosporic embryo sacs, generally axile placentation and bitegmic, crassinucellate ovules. Additionally the fruit type of Limnanthaceae, a schizocarpic nutlet, is unlike anything in the Geraniales most of which produce capsules. They also found a number of key differences between Limnanthaceae and Sapindales, and concluded that Limnanthaceae should be given their own order. Hofmann and Ludewig (1985) undertook a similar detailed study of the morphology of Limnanthes douglasii and made systematic inferences from their findings. They concluded that