The World Flora Online

Arbres, arbustes, lianes ou parfois herbes (introduites au Gabon) ; exsudat presque toujours présent dans la plupart des parties, généralement blanc, parfois clair ou jaunâtre. Stipules rarement présentes. Feuilles simples, opposées ou verticillées ; pétioles d’une paire parfois unis à la base en formant un court tube (= ochréa) ; limbe à nervation pennée, à bord entier. Inflorescences axillaires, terminales ou sur des vrilles, souvent paniculées, avec 1 à plusieurs fleurs. Fleurs (4 ou)5-mères, bisexuées, le plus souvent actinomorphes, souvent parfumées ; calice à sépales libres ou unis à la base, souvent munis de glandes ± digitiformes (= collétères) à l’intérieur, à préfloraison imbriqués ; corolle sympétale, tube parfois contorté, lobes à préfloraison spiralée ou parfois valvaire se chevauchant tous à droite ou à gauche, parfois avec une couronne ; étamines insérées à l’intérieur du tube de la corolle, incluses ou exsertes, épipétales, anthères à deux thèques, à déhiscence longitudinale, souvent partiellement stériles, parfois attachées à la tête du pistil ; disque présent ou absent ; ovaire supère ou parfois partiellement infère, à 1 ou 2 loges (syncarpe), ou composé de 2 ou plusieurs carpelles libres (apocarpe) ou unis à la base, ovules 2 à plusieurs par loge ; pistil à style unique, souvent fendu à la base lorsque les carpelles sont plus ou moins séparés, muni au sommet d’une tête composée d’une partie basale stigmatique de formes diverses et d’un apex stigmoïde (= clavoncule ; planche 7.6, 23.6 & 30.5). Fruits syncarpes ou apocarpes, si apocarpes constitués de 2, ou rarement plus, carpelles (méricarpes) libres ou partiellement unis, des baies, drupes ou secs et déhiscents (folliculaires). Graines le plus souvent avec endosperme, dans les fruits secs généralement à poils longs touffus (= coma) à une ou deux extrémités ou rarement ailées.

Famille cosmopolite, avec 400 genres et environ 4,500 espèces, dont 47 genres et environ 1,550 espèces en Afrique continentale ; au Gabon, 36 genres et 155 espèces.

Calyx often glandular inside; lobes 5 or rarely 4, imbricate Corolla tubular, variously shaped; lobes contorted-imbricate, very rarely valvate Stamens 5 or rarely 4, inserted in the tube; filaments free or rarely united; anthers often sagittate, free or connivent around the stigma, rarely adherent to the latter, 2-celled, opening lengthwise, connective often produced at the apex; pollen granular; disk usually present, annular, cupular or of separate glands Ovary superior, 1-celled with 2 parietal placentas or 2-celled with the placentas adnate to the septa, or carpels 2 and free or connate only at the base with ventral placentas in each carpel Style 1, split at the base or entire, thickened and stigmatose below the apex; ovules 2 or more in each carpel Fruit entire and indehiscent or of 2 separate carpels, baccate, drupaceous or follicular Trees, shrubs or climbers, rarely perennial herbs, with latex Leaves opposite or verticillate, rarely alternate, simple, entire; stipules usually absent Flowers hermaphrodite, actinomorphic Seeds mostly with endosperm and large straight embryo, often winged or appendaged with long silky hairs Corolla tubular, variously shaped; lobes contorted-imbricate, very rarely valvate Stamens 5 or rarely 4, inserted in the tube; filaments free or rarely united; anthers often sagittate, free or connivent around the stigma, rarely adherent to the latter, 2-celled, opening lengthwise, connective often produced at the apex; pollen granular; disk usually present, annular, cupular or of separate glands Ovary superior, 1-celled with 2 parietal placentas or 2-celled with the placentas adnate to the septa, or carpels 2 and free or connate only at the base with ventral placentas in each carpel Style 1, split at the base or entire, thickened and stigmatose below the apex; ovules 2 or more in each carpel Fruit entire and indehiscent or of 2 separate carpels, baccate, drupaceous or follicular Trees, shrubs or climbers, rarely perennial herbs, with latex Leaves opposite or verticillate, rarely alternate, simple, entire; stipules usually absent Flowers hermaphrodite, actinomorphic Seeds mostly with endosperm and large straight embryo, often winged or appendaged with long silky hairs

Seeds in dry fruits often winged or with a coma, mostly with endosperm and a large embryo Fruit entire or consisting of two, rarely more, separate or partly united carpels, baccate, drupaceous, or follicular Calyx often with colleters inside Corolla tubular, sometimes with a corona; lobes contorted or occasionally (not in FZ area) valvate Stipules usually absent Flowers bisexual, mostly actinomorphic, 5- or rarely 4-merous Ovary superior or sometimes partly inferior, 1-celled and with 2 parietal placentas, 2-celled and with an axile placenta in each cell, or composed of 2, rarely more, separate or at the base partly united carpels each with an adaxial placenta; ovules 2 to many; style one, often split at the base when carpels more or less separate; stigma composed of a large variously shaped part, usually called the clavuncula, with laterally and/or basally the receptive zone, which is — if stigma coherent with the anthers — below the level of coherence, and a small apical usually sterile (also in FZ) so-called stigma Disk annular, cupular, composed of separate glands, or absent Stamens inserted on the corolla; filaments free from each other or exceptionally (not in FZ area) united in a tube, often very short, frequently continued downwards as ridges at the corolla inside; anthers frequently triangular, connivent over and often coherent with the stigma, 2-celled, often partly sterile, sometimes with apical appendages; cells parallel, discrete, dehiscent throughout by a longitudinal slit Pollen granular Trees, shrubs, lianas, or sometimes herbs, mostly with white sticky latex Leaves opposite, whorled, or less often alternate, simple, pinnately veined, entire Fruit entire or consisting of two, rarely more, separate or partly united carpels, baccate, drupaceous, or follicular Calyx often with colleters inside Corolla tubular, sometimes with a corona; lobes contorted or occasionally (not in FZ area) valvate Stipules usually absent Flowers bisexual, mostly actinomorphic, 5- or rarely 4-merous Ovary superior or sometimes partly inferior, 1-celled and with 2 parietal placentas, 2-celled and with an axile placenta in each cell, or composed of 2, rarely more, separate or at the base partly united carpels each with an adaxial placenta; ovules 2 to many; style one, often split at the base when carpels more or less separate; stigma composed of a large variously shaped part, usually called the clavuncula, with laterally and/or basally the receptive zone, which is — if stigma coherent with the anthers — below the level of coherence, and a small apical usually sterile (also in FZ) so-called stigma Disk annular, cupular, composed of separate glands, or absent Stamens inserted on the corolla; filaments free from each other or exceptionally (not in FZ area) united in a tube, often very short, frequently continued downwards as ridges at the corolla inside; anthers frequently triangular, connivent over and often coherent with the stigma, 2-celled, often partly sterile, sometimes with apical appendages; cells parallel, discrete, dehiscent throughout by a longitudinal slit Pollen granular Trees, shrubs, lianas, or sometimes herbs, mostly with white sticky latex Leaves opposite, whorled, or less often alternate, simple, pinnately veined, entire

Fls perfect, hypogynous, sympetalous, regular or nearly so, 5-merous; corolla with short to sometimes elongate tube and initially mostly convolute, often spreading or reflexed lobes, sometimes with a thickened ring of distinct or connate scales within the throat, and usually with a well developed corona arising from the external base of the filaments or from the region of union of the filaments and corolla; filaments on the corolla-tube, distinct (as in Periploca) or more often connate into a usually short sheath around (and adherent to) the style, the anthers in any case coherent or connate and adherent to the thickened style-head; the combined filaments, anthers and style forming a structure called the gynostegium; pollen of each pollen-sac typically united into a waxy mass known as a pollinium, the right-hand pollinium of one anther connected to the left-hand pollinium of the adjacent anther by a transverse, acellular, often ornate structure called a translator, the pollinium-pair characteristically extracted from the anthers by means of the translator, which becomes entangled in the legs of visiting insects; pollinia and translators of somewhat different structure from the above in a few genera, as described under Periploca; ovaries 2, distinct, each with its own style, these united only by the common style-head, which is thickened and has restricted lateral stigmatic surfaces between the anthers; ovules very numerous; fr in all our genera an ovoid to linear follicle, often only one of a pair of ovaries maturing into fr; seeds numerous, almost always with a coma; herbs, shrubs or vines, usually with milky juice; lvs simple, opposite or occasionally whorled or alternate. 250/2000, mostly of warm regions. Fls perfect, hypogynous, sympetalous, regular or nearly so, mostly 5-merous; cor commonly funnelform or salverform to urceolate or cylindric, with mostly convolute lobes; stamens on the cor-tube, alternate with the lobes; anthers distinct or ± closely connivent around the style-head; ovaries 2 in our genera, with a common style and large stigma; ovules few to many; fr in ours of 2 slender, many-seeded follicles; ours herbs or twining woody vines with milky juice and opposite or (Amsonia) alternate, simple lvs. 200/2000, mostly tropical. Fls perfect, hypogynous, sympetalous, regular or nearly so, mostly 5-merous; cor commonly funnelform or salverform to urceolate or cylindric, with mostly convolute lobes; stamens on the cor-tube, alternate with the lobes; anthers distinct or ± closely connivent around the style-head; ovaries 2 in our genera, with a common style and large stigma; ovules few to many; fr in ours of 2 slender, many-seeded follicles; ours herbs or twining woody vines with milky juice and opposite or (Amsonia) alternate, simple lvs. 200/2000, mostly tropical.

Seeds in dry fruits often winged or with a coma, mostly with an endosperm and a large embryo Fruit entire or consisting of two (rarely more) separate or partly united carpels, baccate, drupaceous, or follicular Stamens included or exserted, epipetalous, free or connate to the style; filaments often very short, epipetalous; anthers frequently triangular, of two cells longitudinally dehiscent, often partly sterile, sometimes with apical appendages Corolla tubular, contorted or occasionally valvate, free, overlapping to the right or left in bud, sometimes with a corona Ovary superior or sometimes partly inferior, 1-celled and with 2 parietal placentas, 2-celled and with an axile placenta in each cell or composed of 2, or more, separate or at the base partly united carpels each with an adaxial placenta; ovules 2 to many; style one, often split at the base when carpels more or less separate; pistil head composed of a large variously shaped stigmatic basal part and a stigmoid apex; disk annular, cupular, composed of separate glands, or absent Leaves simple, opposite, whorled, or less often alternate (as in Adenium), pinnately veined, entire, rarely stipulate Trees, shrubs, lianas, or sometimes herbs (not in our area, except introduced ones); latex nearly always present, usually white, sometimes clear, yellow or red Calyx often with colleters inside, free or united at the base, imbricate in bud Flowers bisexual, mostly actinomorphic, 5- or rarely 4-merous, fragrant Fruit entire or consisting of two (rarely more) separate or partly united carpels, baccate, drupaceous, or follicular Stamens included or exserted, epipetalous, free or connate to the style; filaments often very short, epipetalous; anthers frequently triangular, of two cells longitudinally dehiscent, often partly sterile, sometimes with apical appendages Corolla tubular, contorted or occasionally valvate, free, overlapping to the right or left in bud, sometimes with a corona Ovary superior or sometimes partly inferior, 1-celled and with 2 parietal placentas, 2-celled and with an axile placenta in each cell or composed of 2, or more, separate or at the base partly united carpels each with an adaxial placenta; ovules 2 to many; style one, often split at the base when carpels more or less separate; pistil head composed of a large variously shaped stigmatic basal part and a stigmoid apex; disk annular, cupular, composed of separate glands, or absent Leaves simple, opposite, whorled, or less often alternate (as in Adenium), pinnately veined, entire, rarely stipulate Trees, shrubs, lianas, or sometimes herbs (not in our area, except introduced ones); latex nearly always present, usually white, sometimes clear, yellow or red Calyx often with colleters inside, free or united at the base, imbricate in bud Flowers bisexual, mostly actinomorphic, 5- or rarely 4-merous, fragrant

Trees, shrubs, or vines, rarely subshrubs or herbs, with latex or rarely watery juice. Leaves simple, opposite, rarely whorled or alternate, pinnately veined; stipules absent or rarely present. Inflorescences cymose, terminal or axillary, with bracteoles. Flowers bisexual, 5- [or 4]-merous, actinomorphic. Calyx 5- or rarely 4-partite, quincuncial, basal glands usually present. Corolla 5- or rarely 4-lobed, salverform, funnelform, urceolate, or rarely rotate, lobes overlapping to right or left, rarely valvate. Stamens 5 or rarely 4; filaments short; anthers mostly sagittate, free or connivent into a cone adherent to pistil head, dehiscing longitudinally, base rounded, cordate, sagittate, or prolonged into an empty spur; pollen granular; disc ringlike or cup-shaped, 2-5-lobed, or absent. Ovaries superior, rarely half-inferior, connate or distinct, 1- or 2-locular; ovules (1 or) 2-numerous per locule. Style 1; pistil head capitate, conical, or lampshade-shaped, base stigmatic, apex 2-cleft and not stigmatic. Fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, or follicle. Seeds with or without coma; endosperm thick and often horny, scanty, sometimes absent; embryo straight or nearly so, cotyledons often large, radicle terete.