Leaves opposite, trifoliolate or imparipinnate, leathery, often glandular, usually with serrate margins; stipules either conspicuous and united in pairs or small, caducous
Inflorescences dense, spike-like racemes or axillary panicles
Flowers regular, bisexual, small
Calyx: sepals 4 or 5, imbricate or valvate, free or sometimes connate at base
Petals 4 or 5, free or connate at base, imbricate, entire or toothed or 3-lobed
Stamens free, 8 or 10, alternating with petals, inserted on disc; anthers 2-thecous, didymous, with longitudinal slits
Disc annular, nectar-secreting
Ovary superior, 2-locular; ovules apotropus, 2-many per locule with axile or apical placentation; styles 2, free; stigmas simple
Fruit a capsule, crowned by persistent styles
Seeds oblong or ovoid, sometimes winged; testa thin; endosperm copious; embryo small
Nomenclature:
Cunoniaceae
Brown: 548 (1814)
Candolle: 12 (1830) as Saxifragaceae
Endlicher: 819 (1839) as Saxifragaceae suborder Cunonieae
Harvey: 305 (1862) as Saxifragaceae
Engler: 94 (1891) as Cunoniaceae
Engler: 229 (1928) as Cunoniaceae
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Genera ± 6, species ± 250, native to the southern hemisphere, with main centres of distribution Oceania and Australasia, but 2 genera in tropical America
Southern Africa: Genera 2, species 2
References:
BROWN, R. 1814. Cunoniaceae. In Flinders, Voyage Botany 2, Appendix III. W. Nicol, London
CANDOLLE, A.-P. DE. 1830. Saxifragaceae. Prodromus 4. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris
ENDLICHER, S.L. 1839. Saxifragaceae suborder Cunonieae. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita 2. Beck, Vienna
ENGLER, A. 1891. Cunoniaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien III,2a
ENGLER, A. 1928. Cunoniaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien edn 2, 18a
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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.
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