Ovary half-inferior. Flowers 5-merous. Petals valvate in bud. Seeds albuminous. Leaves glandular-serrate. Flowers in panicles or in umbel-shaped cymes. 10
10. Sepals subulate. Petals ovate. Filaments thin. Seeds oblong. Shrubs with thin branches. Flowers small, polygamous.—Species 2. South
Africa and southern East Africa. Choristylis Harv.
Sepals lanceolate to ovate. Petals linear or oblong. Filaments thick.
Trees with thick branches. Flowers rather large.—Species 1. Island of Réunion. Forgesia Comm.
[FAMILY 97.] PITTOSPORACEAE
Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, undivided, exstipulate. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 5, free or nearly so. Petals 5, free or united below. Stamens 5, hypogynous. Disc none. Ovary superior, sessile or short-stalked, 1-celled or incompletely 2-5-celled. Style simple; stigma entire or lobed. Ovules numerous, ascending or horizontal, inverted, with a single coat. Fruit a loculicidal capsule. Seeds with a hard albumen and a small embryo situated near the hilum. (Under SAXIFRAGACEAE.) (Plate 61.)
Genus 1, species 35. Tropical and South Africa and Canary Islands. Some are used as ornamental plants. Pittosporum Banks
[FAMILY 98.] CUNONIACEAE
Shrubs or trees. Leaves opposite or whorled, stipulate. Flowers in spike-, raceme-, or panicle-like inflorescences, hermaphrodite. Sepals 4-5, free or united at the base. Petals 4-5. Stamens 8-10, inserted beneath the disc. Ovary superior, 2-3-celled; ovules 2 or more to each cell. Styles 2-3, free. Fruit capsular. Seeds albuminous.—Genera 3, species 17. South Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands. (Under SAXIFRAGACEAE.) (Plate 62.)
1. Calyx valvate in bud. Petals 3-cleft or 3-toothed, shorter than the calyx.
Disc perigynous, deeply 4-5-lobed. Connective acuminate. Ovary
2-celled, with 2 pendulous ovules in each cell. Trees. Leaves of 3 leaflets. Stipules free. Flowers in panicles.—Species 1. South
Africa (Cape Colony). Platylophus Don
Calyx imbricate in bud. Disc 8-10-lobed. Stipules united in pairs.
Flowers in clusters arranged in spikes or racemes. 2
2. Disc perigynous, adnate to the base of the ovary. Stamens 10. Ovary
2-celled, with numerous ovules. Seeds compressed, with a narrow wing.
Leaves compound, with 3 or more leaflets.—Species 1. South Africa.
Yields timber. Cunonia L.
Disc hypogynous, free from the ovary. Seeds hairy.—Species 15. Madagascar and the neighbouring islands. Some species yield timber, tans, dyes, and medicaments. (Plate 62.) Weinmannia L.
[FAMILY 99.] MYROTHAMNACEAE
Balsamiferous shrubs. Leaves opposite, folded fan-like, undivided, stipulate. Flowers in spikes, dioecious, without a perianth. Stamens 3-8; connective produced into a point; anthers attached at the base, opening by lateral slits; pollen-grains cohering in groups of four. Ovary lobed, 3-4-celled. Ovules numerous, inverted. Styles 3-4, free, short and thick, with broadened stigmas. Fruit capsular or separating into 2-4 nutlets. Seeds with copious albumen. (Under HAMAMELIDEAE or SAXIFRAGACEAE.)