Sarcolaenaceae

Abstract

Trees or shrubs, with indumentum of thin- or thick-walled, simple, two-armed, stellate, peltate or tufted unicellular hairs and various forms of uni- and multicellular glandular hairs. Leaves alternate, petiolate, simple, entire, usually persistent; stipules usually caducous, small or large, in some genera fused. Flowers usually in terminal paniculate inflorescences or in few-flowered axillary aggregates; bracts usually caducous, sometimes with large stipules, enclosing the floral buds in some genera. Flowers single or in pairs provided with an involucrum; involucrum at anthesis small, collar-like or prominent, cupular, more or less accrescent during fruit development, usually enclosing the mature fruit. Flowers actinomorphic, hermaphrodite. Sepals 3–5, imbricate-contorted, more or less fused at base, usually persistent. Petals 5, contorted, free or slightly fused at base, white, yellow, reddish, or bluish. Disk extrastaminal, usually prominent, cupular or deeply 5-partite. Stamens numerous, rarely only 10, usually persistent; filaments free or basally connate; anthers basi-or dorsifixed, tetrasporangiate, longitudinally dehiscent; pollen in tetrads. Gynoecium (2)3(–5)-carpellate, syncarpous, superior; style usually persistent; stigma broad, lobed; locules with 2 to more than 30 ovules; ovules apical-descendent, basal-ascendent, or axile in the middle of the ovary, anatropous. Fruit usually capsular, loculicidally dehiscent, rarely 1-seeded; pericarp thick, ligneous or thin. Endosperm abundant, sometimes ruminate, or reduced; cotyledons thin and more or less flat, or thick, lobed or folded, sometimes cordate at base.

The author is indebted to H. Straka, Kiel, who kindly provided an unpublished draft on the family and gave valuable comments on pollen morphology.