CELASTRACEAE (Staff-Tree Family)
(Brizicky,
1964b)
Contributed by
David J. Bogler
Plants trees,
shrubs, or lianas, glabrous or nearly so, sometimes incompletely or completely
dioecious, occasionally with milky sap. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple,
pinnately veined, the margins entire or bluntly toothed, sometimes partially or
fully evergreen. Stipules absent or small, scalelike, and shed early.
Inflorescences axillary or terminal clusters (sometimes appearing as short
racemes or small panicles in Celastrus). Flowers perfect or imperfect,
actinomorphic, hypogynous or perigynous, small, the stalks jointed. Sepals 4 or
5, small, usually fused toward the base. Petals 4 or 5, separate. Stamens 4 or
5, opposite the sepals, the filaments short, usually distinct, the short, broad
anthers attached at or near the base. A nectar disk is present between the
stamens and ovary, usually conspicuous, the petals and stamens sometimes
appearing attached to the disk. Pistil of 2–5 fused carpels, the ovary superior
or appearing partially inferior (the basal portion sometimes appearing sunken
into the disk), 1–5-locular, the ovules 2 to several per locule, the
placentation axile. Style 1, the stigma capitate or 3-lobed. Fruits capsules
(drupes or berries elsewhere), sometimes strongly lobed, dehiscent
longitudinally by 3–5 valves. Seeds 3–5 (more elsewhere), covered by a brightly
colored, red or orange, fleshy aril. Fifty-five to 90 genera, 850–1,300
species, nearly worldwide, but most diverse in tropical and subtropical
regions.
The Celastraceae
are of limited economic importance, although a number of species are cultivated
as ornamentals, and some taxa are considered invasive exotics. Euonymus
is used in Chinese herbal medicine. The leaves of Catha edulis (Vahl)
Endl., called khat, are chewed or brewed into tea for their stimulant effect in
East Africa and the Middle East.