Lepisanthes Blume

Scientific Description

Family Sapindaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs; laticiferous, or non-laticiferous and without coloured juice. Stem internodes solid. Mesophytic. Leaves alternate; spiral; petiolate (finely ribbed, swollen at the base); non-sheathing; gland-dotted, or not gland-dotted; compound; pulvinate, or epulvinate; pinnate; paripinnate (in Australia). Leaflets elliptic (to narrowly elliptic), or oblong to ovate, or obovate; oblique at the base (or obtuse or unequal). Leaf blades pinnately veined (venation conspicuous, raised below); cross-venulate. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present (pubescent or puberulent). Extra-floral nectaries absent. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite (rarely), or functionally male and functionally female. Unisexual flowers present. Plants hermaphrodite (rarely), or monoecious. Female flowers with staminodes. Male flowers with pistillodes.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in panicles (panicle-like). The terminal inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary; panicle axes densely brown tomentose; buds globose. Flowers pedicellate (articulate near middle); bracteate (subulate and densely brown tomentose); bracteolate, or ebracteolate; small; somewhat irregular, or very irregular. The floral asymmetry involving the perianth, or involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers cyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; extrastaminal; annular or one-sided. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla, or sepaline (the corolla sometimes lacking); 9 (usually), or 5 (when the corolla lacking); 2 -whorled (usually), or 1 -whorled; anisomerous. Calyx present; 5 (2 outer, 3 inner); 1 -whorled; polysepalous; imbricate, or valvate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular; with the median member posterior. Sepals broadly elliptic, or orbicular (or subcircular). Corolla present, or absent (rarely); 4; 1 -whorled; appendiculate; polypetalous; imbricate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular; white (whitish). Petals ovate (subovate), or obovate; clawed (shortly). Fertile stamens present, or absent. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 8. Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another; 2 -whorled. Androecium of male-fertile flowers exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 8; all more or less similar in shape; diplostemonous; round the ovary within the disc, usually at interrupted opening of the disc; filantherous. Anthers dorsifixed, or basifixed; more or less versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate; appendaged, or unappendaged. The anther appendages apical (by connective extension). Fertile gynoecium present, or absent. Gynoecium 2–4 carpelled. The pistil 1–4 celled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth, or isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary unilocular, or plurilocular; 1–4 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary, or from a depression at the top of the ovary; apical. Stigmas 1. Placentation axile to basal. Ovules in the single cavity 1; 1 per locule; funicled, or sessile; pendulous, or horizontal, or ascending; non-arillate; hemianatropous, or anatropous, or campylotropous, or amphitropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy, or non-fleshy; indehiscent; a capsule, or a berry, or a drupe, or a nut, or a samara. Seeds non-endospermic. Cotyledons 2. Embryo curved, or bent, or coiled.

Etymology. From the Greek for "a scale" and "flower", referring to the well developed scale of petals.