Ternstroemiaceae

Abstract

Evergreen trees or shrubs, accumulating aluminium; indumentum of unicellular hairs. Leaves distichous or spiral, conduplicate-involute or supervolute, usually evergreen and coriaceous, margins entire or toothed, a small, deciduous seta near the apex of each tooth; stipules absent. Plant dioecious or flowers hermaphroditic. Inflorescences axillary, rarely pseudo-terminal, flowers solitary or fasciculate, rarely in short racemes of up to 15 flowers, pedicellate, regular, 5-merous, usually <2 cm in diameter, pedicel with more or less apical prophylls; sepals quincuncial, connate or distinct, persistent in fruit, usually thick, concave, subequal, rarely unequal; petals distinct or connate basally, quincuncial, thick or membranous; stamens 5-many, free, connate and/or adnate to corolla basally, filaments equal or unequal, wide and flat or thickened, often narrowing and incurved apically, shorter than to 4x as long as the anthers; anthers dithecal, basifixed, introrse, oblong, opening by longitudinal slits, rarely by flaps or pore-like slits, connective often elongated; carpels (2)3–5(6), ovary superior, rarely inferior, placentation axile, rarely apical or parietal; ovules anatropous to campylotropous, (1, 2)-many per carpel; style simple or with apical branches, or stylodia separate; stigmas usually separate. Fruit a berry, or rarely irregularly dehiscent, or a loculicidal capsule; seeds 1-numerous, reniform, small, reticulate or areolate, or larger, ellipsoid, ± smooth; endosperm slight to copious; embryo hippocrepiform to ± straight.