WorldFloraDB - Averrhoa

Characteristics

Evergreen shrubs or trees. Innovations pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves spirally arranged to terminally clustered, estipulate, imparipinnate, herbaceous; leaflets entire, subopposite, subsessile, terminal largest. Panicles axillary or cauliflorous. Flowers in scattered, stalked, loose cymes, heterodi-or-tristylous. Bracts small, caducous. Sepals quincuncial or paratact, shortly connate at base. Petals contort or paratact, free or coherent above the claw, creamy to dark red with white markings. Ovary appressed-strigose; ovules (2-)3-7 per cell, pendulous. Fruit large, yellowish green and semitransparent in vivo, red when dry; rimae small, reduced to absent (?). Seeds elliptic, flattened; aril present in one species, attached to the entire adaxial raphe, bilabiate, enveloping the seed, fleshy, with oily drops; endosperm present; cotyledons 6-8 times as long as the oblique and stout radicle.

More

Small to large branched trees. Leaves imparipinnate. Inflorescences of cymes united in racemes, then in fascicles or pseudopanicles, axillary or cauliflorous; bracts and bracteoles subulate, caducous. Flowers heterostylous; sepals shortly connate at the base, imbricate; petals hypogynous, contorted, free or connate near the middle; stamens 10 (5 + 5) or 5 fertile and 5 staminodes; ovary 5-lobed, the carpels 2-7 ovuled. Berries indehiscent; seeds 2-several in each carpel, the endosperm fleshy, the outer tegument present or absent.

Trees or shrubs. Stipules absent. Leaves alternate or subopposite, odd-pinnate; leaflets nearly opposite. Inflorescences axillary or rameal, cymes or panicles. Flowers small or medium-sized, fragrant. Sepals red, semifleshy, basally connate. Petals white, pink, or purple, contorted. Stamens all fertile or 5 without anthers. Ovary several ovules per locule. Fruit a berry, oblong, usually 5-lobed. Seeds few or numerous, naked or arillate.

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Environment

Irritability of the leaves has been noted as early as 1785 by BRUCE ( BRUCE Phil. Trans. 1785 356 ), while DARWIN made a detailed study of it (A. bilimbi L.) in DARWIN The Movements of Plants 1880 330, 447 .

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Usage

Uses. Mainly for the fruit; see under the species.

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Cultivation

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