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(Last Modified On 3/20/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/20/2013)
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Genus
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Omphalea L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 1264, 1759, nom. gen. cons.
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Synonym
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Hebecocca Beurl., Svensk Vet. Akad. Handl., 1854, 146, 1856.
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Description
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Shrubs, lianas, or small trees, with clear latex; monoecious. Leaves alternate (sometimes approximate at ends of branches), distinctly petiolate, stipulate; blades large, pinnately veined but often 3-nerved at base, entire to deeply lobed, usually with 2 large glands at junction with petiole. Inflorescence paniculate (a compound thyrse); floral bracts often conspicuous and foliose; cymules d or I. Staminate flowers short-pedicellate; calyx-lobes 4, decussate (rarely 5 and imbricate); petals absent; disc patelliform, fleshy, entire; stamens 2 or 3, the filaments connate, the connectives of anthers connate into a large fleshy disciform mass with anthers at the periphery, the anthers dehiscing obliquely; pollen grain oblate, 3-colpate, tectate (psilate); pistillode absent. Pistillate flowers short-pedicellate; calyx-lobes 4 (rarely 5); petals absent; disc annular, sometimes indistinct; ovary of 3 carpels, with 1 ovule in each locule, the styles connate into a stout column which is entire or barely 3-lobed at the apex. Fruits fleshy but ultimately dehiscing into 3 1-seeded woody cocci; seeds subglobose, ecarunculate, endosperm present, the cotyledons broad, cordate at base.
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Habit
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Shrubs, lianas, or small trees
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Distribution
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A primarily American genus of 15 species, most of these in the West Indies, only three species known from the Old World.
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Note
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Most of the American species are known from very few collections, and careful field work is still needed to determine whether there are significant differences in fruit characters, etc. In addition to the one species known from Panama, two others have been described from Central America by Hemsley. The relationships between these taxa remain to be carefully investigated.
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