FLOW. PL. AFR.
Pl. 86.
J. Fleischmann del.
Bersama abyssinica Fresen.
A Flowering branch. B Flower cut lengthwise. C Flower without the perianth. D Cross-section of ovary. E Group of fruits. F Fruit. G Seed with aril. H Seed cut lengthwise.
Ovary lobed or divided. Stamens 12-24. Leaves with sunken glands.
Fruit separating into mericarps. 44
44. Fruit winged; pericarp leathery. Ovary 2-celled. Stamens 20-24.
Sepals densely clothed with silky hairs. Leaflets 4, with conspicuous veins.—Species 1. Island of Mauritius. The seeds contain oil. Hornea Bak.
Fruit not winged; pericarp fleshy. (See 38.) Deinbollia Schum. & Thonn.
45. (2.) Flowers irregular. Petals 4. Disc one-sided. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit capsular. 46
Flowers regular or nearly so. Petals 5 or 0. Disc complete or indistinct. 48
46. Petals with a long claw and a crisped scale, red. Disc cup-shaped. Stamens
8. Ovary stalked. Fruit inflated, bursting irregularly. Seeds with a red, bony testa and a spiral embryo. Shrubs. Leaves unequally pinnate with a winged rachis and 11-13 leaflets.—Species 2.
South Africa and Madagascar. Erythrophysa E. Mey.
Petals with a short claw and without a scale. Disc flat. Ovary sessile.
Fruit opening regularly. Seeds with a leathery or crusty testa. Leaves with 3-10 leaflets clothed with stellate hairs. 47
47. Stamens 5-6. Fruit with septifragal dehiscence. Embryo spirally twisted. Leaves unequally pinnate, with 3-7 leaflets.—Species 2.
Madagascar and Mascarenes. Yielding timber. Cossignia Comm.
Stamens 8. Fruit with loculicidal dehiscence. Embryo curved. Leaves equally pinnate, with 6-10 leaflets.—Species 3. Tropics. (Majidea
Kirk) Harpullia Roxb.
48. Petals present. Stamens 8. Ovary 3-celled. Leaves equally pinnate. 49
Petals absent. 51
49. Disc somewhat one-sided. Petals green or yellowish. Fruit capsular.
Leaves with 8-10 leaflets. (See 47.) Harpullia Roxb.
Disc equal-sided. Petals red or reddish. 50
50. Leaves with 4-6 leaflets. Petals with the margins bent back at the base. Fruit capsular, 3-celled.—Species 1. Madagascar. Conchopetalum Radlk.
Leaves with 8-14 usually serrate leaflets along a winged rachis. Petals minutely toothed. Fruit indehiscent, leathery, usually 1-celled.—Species
1. South Africa. Hippobromus Eckl. & Zeyh.
51. Disc indistinct. Stamens 5-15, usually 8. Ovary 2-6-, usually 3-celled.
Stigma lobed. Fruit capsular, 2-6-celled. Embryo spirally twisted. Leaves usually simple.—Species 4. Tropical and South
Africa. They yield timber, medicaments, and edible fruits; the beaten branches are used as torches. Dodonaea L.
Disc distinctly developed. Stamens 4-5. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit indehiscent, usually drupaceous and 1-celled. Embryo not spiral. Leaves
pinnate. 52
52. Flowers 4-merous. Leaves unequally pinnate. Tall trees.—Species 1.
Southern West Africa (Angola). Zanha Hiern
Flowers 5-merous. Leaves equally pinnate. 53
53. Calyx slightly lobed. Seeds with a thin testa and short radicle. Leaflets elliptical, entire. Flowers in panicles.—Species 1. West Africa. Talisiopsis Radlk.
Calyx deeply divided. 54
54. Stamens alternating with the sepals. Stigma 2-lobed. Seeds with a thin testa and short radicle. Leaflets oval, crenate. Flowers in few-flowered cymes.—Species 1. East Africa. The seeds are edible. Dialiopsis Radlk.
Stamens opposite to the sepals. Stigma entire. Seeds with a leathery testa and long radicle. Leaflets lanceolate oblong or elliptical, entire.
Flowers in panicles.—Species 1. Mascarene Islands. It yields timber, edible fruits, and medicaments. (Under Hippobromus Eckl. & Zeyh. or Melicocca L.) Doratoxylon Thouars
SUBORDER MELIANTHINEAE
[FAMILY 135.] MELIANTHACEAE
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate or simple and undivided. Flowers in racemes, more or less irregular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 4-5, free or united at the base, imbricate in bud. Petals 4-5, imbricate in bud, sometimes cohering in the middle. Stamens 4-10, inserted within the disc. Anthers opening lengthwise by lateral slits. Ovary superior, 4-5-celled. Style simple; stigma entire or lobed. Fruit a capsule. Seeds with a straight embryo and copious albumen.—Genera 3, species 30. (Under SAPINDACEAE) (Plate 86.).