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(Last Modified On 4/2/2013)
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(Last Modified On 4/2/2013)
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Family
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SAPOTACEAE
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Contributor
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WILL H. BLACKWELL, JR.
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Description
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Trees or shrubs with milky latex (lactiferous sacs present in the pith and cortex and the leaves and fruit), glabrous or pubescent (the trichomes unicellular and 2-armed). Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, petiolate, estipulate; blades simple, entire, often leathery, penninerved. Flowers usually I , regular, axillary to leaves and/or leaf-scars, fasciculate or occasionally solitary, the pedicels ses- sile; sepals 4-12, imbricate or spiralled, in one or two whorls, free or united only at the base; corolla gamopetalous, the lobes 4-8, shorter or longer than the tube, as many as or fewer than (rarely more than) the sepals, with or without basal petaloid appendages; stamens epipetalous, usually equal in number to and op- posite the corolla-lobes, an outer antisepalous whorl of staminodes often present (typically equal in number to and appearing to be in the same whorl with the stamens); ovarv superior, (1-)4 to 14-carpelled and -loculed, completely septate, with 1 ascending, lateral or basal, anatropous, bitegmic ovule in each locule, the style single, entire or lobed at the summit. Fruit a berry, often fleshy, the exocarp frequently becoming corky or sclerotic; seeds 1-several, large, with or without endosperm, the testa hard and shiny, the scar lateral to basal, large or small.
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Habit
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Trees or shrubs
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Distribution
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A family of about 40 genera and 600 species, widespread in the tropics of the Newv and Old World; six genera occur in Panama. Several representatives are economically important.
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Key
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a. Each corolla-lobe with. a pair of petaloid appendages arising from the base (the appendages dorsal or lateral), if these lacking then the sepals in two dis- tinct whorls of three each; staminodes present and petaloid. b. Sepals biseriate (3 + 3); corolla-lobe appendages dorsal or absmnt; ovules attached laterally; seed-scar lateral or essentially so, equalling or extend- ing beyond the middle of the seed ......................... 1. Manilkara bb. Sepals not in two distinct whorls though sometimes quincuncial; corolla- lobe appendages lateral; ovules attached basilaterally; seed-scar basal or basilateral, not reaching the middle of the seed. c. Plants unarmed; flowers borne at defoliated nodes only; ovary glabrous, the style 1.5-2 mm long; apex of fruit abruptly tapering to the persistent style; seeds with endosperm ................... 2. Dipholis cc. Plants often with spines; flowers axillary to leaves and occasionally also leaf-scars; ovary pubescent, the style 3-7 mm long; apex of fruit rounded or subtruncate, not tapering to the style; seeds lacking en- dosperm ................... 3. Bwunelia aa. Corolla-lobes lacking appendages; sepals usually uniseriate (though often strongly imbricate or spiralled), if distinctly biseriate then 2 + 2; staminodes present (often not petaloid) or absent. d. Secondary lateral veins more or less paralleling the primary laterals; staminodes absent ....................... 4. Chrysophyllum dd. Secondary laterals not paralleling (often essentially perpendicular to) the primary laterals; staminodes present (frequently scale-like or linear- lanceolate or filiform, occasionally petaloid). e. Leaf-blades usually canaliculate above the midvein, the channel terminating in a small pouch at the base of the blade; petiole usually l/2 the length of the blade or more; ovary glabrate; seed-scar often elongate but not reaching the middle of the seed; endosperm present .5............... 5. Mastichodendroon ee. Leaf-blades not as above; petiole less than 1/2 the blade length; ovary conspicuously pubescent; seed-scar excteding the middle of the s2ed; endosperm lacking ............ 6. Pouteriu
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