Mimusops L.

Scientific Description

Family Sapotaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs; evergreen; laticiferous. Plants unarmed. Mesophytic. Leaves alternate (clustered or not); spiral; leathery; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple. Leaf blades entire; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves minutely with stipules, or without stipules. Stipules when present, caducous. Leaf blade margins entire. Domatia recorded; represented by pits. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present, or absent. Stem anatomy. Nodes tri-lacunar, or unilacunar. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences axillary (ot in the axils of leaf scars); comprised of small clusters. Flowers bracteolate; small; regular; cyclic; polycyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 16; 3 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 8; 2 -whorled (4+4, the whorls dissimilar); polysepalous; hairy. Corolla 8; 1 -whorled; not appendiculate; gamopetalous; very deeply lobed. Corolla lobes markedly longer than the tube. Corolla imbricate; glabrous abaxially; glabrous adaxially; white. Corolla members fringed (each lobe divided into 3, rarely further divided; the median segment slender, usually erect and clasping the stamen, sometimes inflexed against the style; lateral segments widely spreading). Androecium (15–)16. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); free of one another, or coherent (stamens may be partially fused to staminodes); 2 -whorled. Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 8; non-petaloid (linear). Stamens (7–)8; isomerous with the perianth; alternisepalous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; extrorse; tetrasporangiate; appendaged; apiculate. Gynoecium (7–)8 carpelled. The pistil (7–)8 celled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; (7–)8 locular; cylindric to globular, densely hairy. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary; apical. Stigmas 1; truncate; dry type; papillate; Group II type. Placentation basal (or basi-ventral). Ovules 1 per locule; ascending; hemianatropous to anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy (succulent or coriaceous); indehiscent; a berry; 1–6 seeded. Seeds with a small circular basal scar of attachment; endospermic. Endosperm oily (copious). Seeds with amyloid, or without amyloid. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2 (large, thin, flat). Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar, or cryptocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland. Northern Botanical Province.