Shrubs or trees, glabrous or with an indumentum of simple hairs. Flowers hermaphrodite, solitary or paired, axillary, supra-axillary or borne on the older leafless stems or trunks, stalked or subsessile; bracteoles small, imbricate; buds subglobose. Sepals 3, valvate, much smaller than the petals. Petals 6 in 1 whorl, valvate, equal, distinctly united at the base. Stamens numerous, cuneiform; filaments short; anther-cells lateral and extrorse; connective-prolongation broadened and truncate, those of the inner stamens longer and more developed. Carpels united in a 1-locular ovary, which is ovoid or ellipsoid and with numerous ovules; placentation parietal; styles obsolete; stigmas joined to form an irregular or peltate mass larger than the ovary. Fruit syncarpous, globose, ovoid or ellipsoid; pericarp often woody when dry, smooth or rugose. Seeds numerous, ellipsoid, immersed in a resinous pulp; testa often shining.
Home