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Meliaceae Habit: [(Perennial herb), shrub] or tree; wood hard, often aromatic. Leaf: generally alternate, often clustered near stem tips, generally odd-2-pinnate, bases generally swollen; stipules 0. Inflorescence: panicle [raceme or umbel]. Flower: generally bisexual, radial; sepals generally 3--5, fused at base or not; petals generally 3--5, free [or +- fused at base or to filament tube]; stamens generally 8--12, filaments generally fused; disk generally between stamens and ovary; ovary superior, chambers generally 2--5, placentas axile, style generally 1, stigma generally head-like, lobed. Fruit: generally drupe. Seed: many, often winged or with an aril. Genera In Family: +- 50 genera, +- 550 species: tropics, subtropics (some temperate). Timber, including mahogany (Swietenia). Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Elizabeth McClintock Reference: Muellner et al. 2006 Molec Phylogen Evol 40:236--250 Unabridged Reference: Pennington & Styles 1975 Blumea 22:419--540; Muellner et al. 2003 Amer J Bot 90:471--480 Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti. Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Proboscidea lutea Next taxon: Melia |