e-Key v3 - Smelophyllum
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Interactive keys to the identification of seed plants of southern Africa using keys based on plant morphology.

Sapindaceae - Smelophyllum Radlk.

Description :

  • Trees
  • Leaves pinnate, petiolate; leaflets in 3 or 4 pairs, obtusely toothed and undulate on margin
  • Flowers bisexual, regular; in axillary panicles shorter than leaves
  • Sepals 5, connate at base to form a saucer-shaped calyx with small lobes
  • Petals 5, slightly longer than calyx, ± quadrate, reflexed at apex, each with a thick appendage longer than petal
  • Disc cupular
  • Stamens 6-10; filaments subterete
  • Ovary 2- or 3-locular; with a solitary, basal ovule in each locule; style short, thick; stigma simple
  • Fruit 2-lobed, with fleshy pericarp
  • Seeds without an aril

Nomenclature:

  • Smelophyllum Radlk.
    • Radlkofer: 330 (1878)
    • Palgrave: 531 (1977)

Distribution & Notes:

  • Southern Africa : Species 1: Smelophyllum capense Radlk., Eastern Cape, forest areas of Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, Humansdorp and Uniondale Districts

References:

  • PALGRAVE, K.C. 1977. Trees of southern Africa . Struik, Cape Town
  • RADLKOFER, L. 1878. Sitzungsberichte der Königl. Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München 8