Euphorbiaceae - Phyllanthoideae - Hymenocardieae - Hymenocardia Wall. ex Lindl.
Description:
Trees or shrubs; dioecious; Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, entire; stipulate
Inflorescence in male a catkin-like spike; in female a short raceme
Petals 0
Disc 0
Calyx 4-6-lobed
Male flowers: calyx lobes imbricate; stamens 4-6; filaments free or connate at base; anthers usually with conspicuous yellow or golden-coloured gland on back; pistil rudimentary
Female flowers: sepals free, 4-6(-8), caducous; ovary 2-locular, with 2 ovules in each locule; styles 2, free
Fruit a flat capsule with 2 large, apical wings or broadly winged on margin, splitting into cocci from central axis; pericarp subcrustaceous; endocarp thin, membranous
Seeds usually solitary in each coccus, flat with sparse endosperm
Nomenclature:
Hymenocardia Wall. ex Lindl.
Lindley: 441 (1836)
Hutchinson: 409 (1920)
Airy Shaw: 262 (1965) Hymenocardiaceae Airy Shaw
Radcliffe-Smith: 577 (1988) Hymenocardiaceae
Webster: 53 (1994) Hymenocardieae
Radcliffe-Smith: 113 (1996)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 7 or 8, mostly tropical Africa
Southern Africa: Species 1: Hymenocardia ulmoides Oliv., Northern Province, KwaZulu-Natal
References:
AIRY SHAW, H.K. 1965. Diagnoses of new families, new names, etc. for the seventh edition of Willis's 'Dictionary'. Kew Bulletin 18
HUTCHINSON, J. 1920. Euphorbiaceae [in part]. Flora capensis 5, 2
LINDLEY, J. 1836. A natural system of Botany [An introduction to the natural system of Botany, edn 2]. Longman, London
RADCLIFFE-SMITH, A. 1988. Hymenocardiaceae. Flora of tropical East Africa. Euphorbiaceae Part 2
RADCLIFFE-SMITH, A. 1996. Euphorbiaceae. Flora zambesiaca 9, 4
WEBSTER, G.L. 1994. Synopsis of the genera and suprageneric taxa of Euphorbiaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 81
Copyright of the content hosted by this website remains with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), unless stated otherwise. Material from this site may be used in other media, provided that SANBI is acknowledged by the name South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) or refer to the 'How to cite this resource' paragraph on the Home page. Liability disclaimer: Visitors use this site at their own risk and SANBI is not liable for any of the consequences resulting therefrom.
Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
