Coccoloba P.Browne

Shrubs or trees, trees with scrambling branches, or lianas; branches terete or stout, commonly strongly striate, short shoots commonly developed laterally, or the terminal shoots of limited growth becoming long shoots, pith solid or the stem hollow except at the nodes; nodes commonly swollen; ocreae characteristically developed, sheathing at first, becoming split along one or two sides, the basal portion commonly coriaceous and persistent, the apical portion commonly mem-branaceous and deciduous or entirely membranaceous and deciduous, glabrous, puberulent or silky pubescent; leaves alternate, persistent or deciduous, membrana-ceous, chartaceous or coriaceous, on deciduous trees the young leaves usually turning black on drying, varying considerably in size on the same shoots, the leaves of adventitious or juvenile shoots commonly much larger and frequently of dif-ferent shape from those of normal shoots; the petiole borne at the base of, or well above the base of, the ocrea, petioles slender to stout, commonly canaliculate above, glabrous to puberulent or pubescent; leaf blades with margins flat to slightly recurved, straight or undulate, midrib commonly keeled above and often below, primary veins straight to the margin or branched near the margin becoming reticulate, or arcuate and anastomosing, or arcuate and bifurcate-anastomosing, the secondary venation parallel or reticulate, conspicuous to obscure, leaf surface glabrous, puberulent or pilose becoming glabrate, pubescence often mixed with glandular-like bodies which are either hair bases or resinous excretions from the stomata or rarely multicellular glands; inflorescence terminal or terminal on lateral shoots, paniculate, racemose or spicate, the peduncle usually short; basal ocrea present, flowers functionally unisexual, the staminate flowers borne in clusters of 2-7, the pistillate flowers usually borne singly at each nodule on the rachis, rachis swollen at each flower cluster or terete, flowering clusters distinct or confluent, subtended by a small bract and one or more membranaceous ocreolae, ocreolae usually covering the flower bud and splitting regularly or irregularly forming a membranaceous collar or sheath, or one, two or more appendages, pedicels short or well developed, equaling or exceeding the ocreolae, hypanthium well developed or slight, perianth lobes usually 5, rarely to 7 in number, imbricate in bud, often reflexed at maturity, stamens usually 8, functional stamens exserted, non-functional stamens included, filaments commonly flared at the base and more or less united, functional pistil exserted, the non-functional pistil included, ovary strongly trigonous, glabrous, functional styles 3, or if 2 or 1 the non-functional styles filamentous, stigmatic surface often expanded; hypanthium and perianth lobes expanding in fruit, or only the perianth lobes expanding to cover the achene, fruiting hypanthium-when fresh commonly brightly colored and fleshy, usually astringent to taste, occasionally strongly fibrous; the achene trigonous in outline, black, brown or tan in color, shiny or dull, the outer wall hard, the inner layer papery, seed with ruminate endosperm, the major lobes 3, the minor lobes and involutions numerous, the embryo centrally located, the cotyledons orbicular, flat, rarely folded or contorted, the radicle small and terete.