1. Ovary with 1 fertile cell and sometimes 2 sterile ones. Ovule 1. Style
3-4-cleft. Stamens 8-10, inserted on the edge of the ring-shaped disc. Petals 4. Sepals 2. Flowers dioecious. Leaves undivided, deciduous. Spiny trees.—Species 6. Madagascar. Some species
yield timber. (Including Alluaudia Drake). [Tribe DIDIEREAE.] Didierea Baill.
Ovary with 2-8 fertile cells. Stamens inserted within the disc, rarely upon it (Pistaciopsis) or no distinct disc present (Dodonaea); in both these cases petals wanting. 2
2. Ovule 1 in each cell of the ovary. 3
Ovules 2, very rarely 3, in each cell of the ovary. 45
3. Ovule pendulous. Ovary 2-celled. Style undivided, with 2 decurrent stigmatic lines at the apex. Stamens 5. Disc regular. Petals 5, small. Sepals 5, slightly imbricate in bud. Fruit succulent, indehiscent.
Seeds without an aril. Embryo with pinnately cut cotyledons. Branches and leaves with a resinous coating. Leaves equally pinnate, with a winged rachis.—Species 2. Equatorial East Africa and Madagascar. Filicium Thwait.
Ovule erect or ascending. Stamens usually 8. 4
4. Flowers irregular, with a one-sided disc. Petals 4. 5
Flowers regular or nearly so, with a complete disc. Petals 5 or 0. Leaves exstipulate, equally pinnate, rarely unequally pinnate (Pistaciopsis) or simple (Pappea). 14
5. Leaves stipulate, unequally pinnate with 5 leaflets or twice ternate. Herbs or undershrubs or climbing tendril-bearing shrubs. Petals with a crested, and hooded scale. Stamens 8. Ovary 3-celled. 6
Leaves exstipulate, simple trifoliolate or equally pinnate. Trees or shrubs without tendrils. Seeds without an aril. 8
6. Stem herbaceous or woody at the base only. Fruit capsular, inflated, with a membranous rind. Seeds without an aril.—Species 5. Tropical and
South Africa, one species (C. Helicacabum L.) also naturalized in North
Africa. They yield fodder, vegetables, oil, and medicaments, and serve also as decorative plants. “Heartseed.” Cardiospermum L.
Stem woody, climbing, bearing tendrils. Fruit capsular, not inflated, with a leathery or woody rind, or separating into mericarps. Seeds with
a more or less distinct aril. 7
7. Leaves twice ternate. Fruit 3-winged below, separating into 3 nutlets.—Species
1. Madagascar. Serjania Schum.
Leaves pinnate. Fruit wingless, capsular.—Species 1. Tropics. Poisonous and yielding fibres and medicaments. Paullinia L.
8. Leaves simple or trifoliolate. Sepals 4, broadly imbricate in bud. Petals with a crestless, notched or 2-parted scale. Stamens 8. Ovary deeply lobed. Fruit of 1-3 drupes.—Species 50. Tropical and South
Africa. Some species yield timber, edible fruits, and medicaments.
(Under Schmidelia L.) Allophyllus L.
Leaves abruptly pinnate. Sepals 5. 9
9. Sepals free, broadly imbricate in bud. Petals with a notched scale. Stamens
8. Fruit separating into 3 mericarps. Seed-coat hard.—Species
3. Naturalized in the Mascarenes and Seychelles. The wood and the
fruits (soap-berries) are used; the latter afford a substitute for soap, mucilage, oil, poison, and medicaments; the seeds serve as ornaments and for making buttons and rosaries. (Including Dittelasma Hook.) Sapindus L.
Sepals more or less united, narrowly imbricate or valvate in bud. Fruit furrowed or lobed, indehiscent. 10
10. Calyx shortly bell- or top-shaped; sepals united at the base only. Petals with a 2-crested scale. Stamens 6-8. Pericarp crustaceous or leathery. 11
Calyx deeply urn-shaped or almost globular; sepals united high up.
Pericarp more or less fleshy. 12
11. Disc obliquely cupular. Ovary 2-celled. Sepals imbricate in bud. Petals with a very broad scale. Shrubs. Leaflets 10.—Species 1. Madagascar. Plagioscyphus Radlk.
Disc not cupular. Ovary 3-celled. Leaflets 4-8.—Species 7. West
Africa. (Under Erioglossum Blume) Pancovia Willd.
12. Stamens 12-15. Petals sessile; scale adnate below by the margin, bearing a short crest. Ovary 6-8-celled. Trees. Leaflets 10-12.—Species
1. West Africa (Cameroons). Glossolepis Gilg
Stamens 6-8. Petals clawed. 13
13. Scales of the petals adnate below by the margins, bearing an incurved crest; claws elongate. Calyx subglobose, shortly toothed. Ovary
7-celled. Trees. Leaflets numerous.—Species 1. West Africa
(Cameroons). Radlkofera Gilg
Scales of the petals adnate by a ridge, more rarely free. Ovary 3-4-celled, rarely 7-8-celled, but then petals with a free and crestless scale.
Species 10. West Africa. Some have edible fruits. Chytranthus Hook. fil.
14. (4.) Petals absent. 15
Petals present. 23
15. Sepals 4-6, united at the base only, valvate or almost valvate in bud. 16
Sepals 5, united high up. 19
16. Stamens 4. Ovary 2-celled. Sepals 4. Leaves with 4-6 leaflets.—Species
1. Madagascar. Crossonephelis Baill.
Stamens 5-8. Ovary 3-celled. 17
17. Flowers in racemes or panicles. Sepals 4-5, hairy outside. Stamens
7-8. Seeds without an aril. Leaves with 4-6 leaflets.—Species 2.
Central Africa. Melanodiscus Radlk.
Flowers in clusters. Stamens 5, rarely 6-7, but then seeds with an aril. 18
18. Stamens inserted inside the disc; filaments short, not exceeding the calyx; anthers linear. Sepals 5-6, hairy above. Seed 1, with an aril. Leaves abruptly pinnate, with 4-10 leaflets.—Species 2. East
Africa. Haplocoelum Radlk.
Stamens inserted at the edge of the disc, 5; filaments long, much exceeding the calyx; anthers oblong or oval. Sepals 5. Leaves with a narrowly
winged rachis.—Species 4. Central Africa. Pistaciopsis Engl.
19. Sepals imbricate in bud, finally slashed. Stamens 8-10, bent twice in the bud. Ovary 3-celled. Seeds with an aril; embryo almost straight.
Trees. Flowers in axillary racemes or panicles.—Species 2. Central
Africa. Flowers fragrant, used for preparing an aromatic water. Lecaniodiscus Planch.
Sepals valvate in bud. Stamens 8. 20
20. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit indehiscent. Seeds with an aril. 21
Ovary 3-celled. 22
21. Fruit covered with wart-like protuberances. Aril free from the seedcoat.—Species
1 (L. chinensis Sonn.) Cultivated in the tropics and naturalized in the Mascarene Islands. It yields timber, edible fruits, and medicaments. (Under Nephelium L. or Euphoria Commers.) Litchi Sonn.
Fruit covered with soft spine-like processes or glabrous. Aril adnate to the seed-coat.—Species 1 (N. lappaceum L., Rambutan). Cultivated in the tropics. It yields edible fruits and fat-containing seeds. (Under
Euphoria Comm.) Nephelium L.
22. Fruit dehiscent. Seeds with an aril. Calyx cup-shaped. Flowers in axillary panicles.—Species 1. Mascarene Islands. Yields timber
(iron-wood), edible fruits, and oily seeds. (Under Nephelium L.) Stadmannia Lam.
Fruit indehiscent. Seeds without an aril. Calyx top-shaped. Flowers in racemes or panicles springing from the older parts of the stem.—Species
3. Central Africa. Placodiscus Radlk.
23. (14.) Calyx 5-lobed; lobes open or slightly imbricate in bud. Stamens
6-10. 24
Calyx 5-parted. 27
24. Calyx urn-shaped. Petals with a scale adnate by a ridge. Fruit indehiscent,
3-lobed, with a leathery pericarp. Seeds without an aril. Inflorescences arising from the older branches. Leaves pinnate. (See 13.) Chytranthus Hook. fil.
Calyx cup- or saucer-shaped, small. Petals with a scale adnate by the margins, or with a free scale, or without a scale. Fruit dehiscent.
Seeds with an aril. 25
25. Petals hairy, without a scale or with the inflexed margins prolonged into small scales. Ovary lobed. Pericarp leathery. Leaves simple, undivided, oblong.—Species 4. East and South Africa. They yield timber, edible fruits, and oily seeds. (Under Sapindus L.) Pappea Eckl. & Zeyh.
Petals with a free scale or with a scale adnate by the margins. Leaves pinnate. 26
26. Petals with a scale adnate by the margins, hence funnel-shaped. Disc clothing the base of the calyx. Filaments hairy. Fruit 3-angled, almost glabrous. Inflorescences axillary.—Species 5. Central Africa.
Some yield timber. (Under Blighia Koen.) Phialodiscus Radlk.
Petals with an almost free, notched scale. Disc free. Filaments glabrous.
Fruit almost globose; pericarp crustaceous or woody, hispid on the outside, woolly within.—Species 3. West Africa. Yielding timber. Eriocoelum Hook. fil.
27. (23.) Sepals narrowly imbricate in bud. 28
Sepals broadly imbricate in bud. 33
28. Stamens 5. Petals hooded, without scales. Disc 5-lobed. Ovary 2-celled.
Fruit indehiscent, with a crustaceous pericarp. Seeds with an aril. Leaves with numerous leaflets. Inflorescences arising from the older parts of the stem.—Species 1. Madagascar. Pseudopteris Baill.
Stamens 6-10. 29
29. Stamens 6-7. Petals hairy, with 1-2 scales adnate by their edges.
Ovary 2-celled. Fruit compressed, dehiscent, with a cartilagineous endocarp. Seeds with an adnate aril. Leaves with 4-11 pairs of leaflets. Flowers in terminal panicles.—Species 3. Central Africa. Aporrhiza Radlk.
Stamens 8-10. 30
30. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit indehiscent. Stamens 8. 31
Ovary 3-celled. Fruit tardily dehiscent. Stamens 8-10. Petals furnished at the base with a scale adnate at each side. 32
31. Leaflets in 3-4 pairs, toothed, pellucidly dotted, beset with scaly glands when young. Fruit 2-lobed, with a fleshy pericarp. Seeds without an aril.—Species 1. South Africa (Cape Colony). (Under Sapindus L.) Smelophyllum Radlk.
Leaflets in 5 pairs, entire, beset with stellate hairs. Fruit with a crustaceous pericarp. Seeds with a free aril.—Species 1 (E. Longana
Lam.). Cultivated in the tropics and in Egypt and naturalized in the
Mascarene Islands. Yields timber and edible fruits. (Under Nephelium
L.) Euphoria Commers.
32. Petals saccate at the base. Stamens 8, rarely 10. Fruit large, bluntly
3-angled. Seeds enveloped at the base by an adnate aril.—Species
3. West Africa. The aril is poisonous when unripe or over-ripe, but edible when ripe, and used for preparing oil and medicaments; from the fragrant flowers an aromatic liquid is prepared. “Akee-tree.” (Under
Cupania L.) Blighia Koen.
Petals funnel-shaped. Stamens 10. Seeds enclosed in the fleshy testa.
Leaflets in 4-6 pairs, toothed.—Species 3. West Africa. Lychnodiseus Radlk.
33. (27.) Stamens 5. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit compressed, dehiscent, with
a spongey pericarp. Seeds with a free aril.—Species 1. Madagascar. Tinopsis Radlk.
Stamens 8-24. 34
34. Stamens 8. 35
Stamens 10-24. Seeds without an aril. 42
35. Leaves twice pinnate. Petals small. Fruit 1-celled, indehiscent, with
a crustaceous pericarp. Seeds with a membranous aril and a crustaceous testa.—Species 10. Madagascar and East Africa. Macphersonia Blume
Leaves once pinnate. 36
36. Petals with 1 scale. Seeds without an aril; testa membranous, leathery, or crustaceous. 37
Petals with 2 scales, usually formed by the inflexion of their edges, rarely
(Molinaea) without scales. Seeds with an aril, rarely (Sapindus) without, but then with a bony testa. 38
37. Leaflets prickly toothed, in several pairs. Stem shrubby. Inflorescences springing from the older parts of the stem. Petals with a hooded scale.
Disc cup-shaped, crenate.—Species 1. Madagascar. Cotylodiscus Radlk.
Leaflets entire. Stem tree-like. Fruit lobed. 38
38. Leaflets in 2 pairs. Fruit drupaceous, not separating into mericarps.
Seeds with a thin testa; embryo nearly straight.—Species 1 (A. senegalensis Radlk.). Central Africa. It yields timber and edible fruits which are also used as a substitute for soap; the seeds are poisonous.
(Under Sapindus L.) Aphania Blume
Leaflets in 3 or more pairs. Fruit separating into 2-3 berry-like mericarps.
Seeds with a leathery testa.—Species 20. Tropical and
South Africa. Some have edible fruits. (Plate 85.) Deinbollia Schum. & Thonn.
39. Petals with large scales. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit capsular.—Species 10.
Madagascar. (Under Cupania L., Jagera Blume, or Ratonia DC.). Tina Roem. & Schult.
Petals with small scales or without scales. Ovary 3-celled. 40
40. Petals very small, with 2 linear scales at the base. Filaments bent twice in the bud. Shrubs. Leaflets in 6-10 pairs.—Species 1. Madagascar. Eriandrostachys Baill.
Petals small or rather large, with the margins bent inwards at the base or without any appendage. Usually trees. 41
41. Seeds with an aril and a crustaceous testa. Fruit winged, capsular.—Species
8. Madagascar and Mascarenes. Some species yield timber and medicaments. (Under Cupania L.). Molinaea Comm.
Seeds without an aril; testa bony. Fruit not winged, drupaceous or separating into mericarps. (See 9.) Sapindus L.
42. (34.) Petals without a scale. Stamens 10. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit capsular, bristly. Climbing shrubs clothed with rust-coloured hairs.
Leaflets in 3-4 pairs, toothed.—Species 1. West Africa. (Under
Cupania L.) Laccodiscus Radlk.
Petals with a scale. Trees or erect shrubs. 43
43. Ovary entire. Stamens 10-12. Leaves without glands.—Species 1.
East Africa. (Under Deinbollia Schum. & Thonn.) Camptolepis Radlk.
SAPINDACEAE
FLOW. PL. AFR.
Pl. 85.
J. Fleischmann del.
Deinbollia pycnophylla Gilg
A Inflorescence. B Male flower. C Male flower cut lengthwise (two anthers have fallen off). D Older female flower cut lengthwise. E Leaf.
MELIANTHACEAE.