Monographs Details:
Authority:
Acevedo-RodrÃguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Acevedo-RodrÃguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Family:
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae
Description:
Genus Description - Trees, glabrous or pubescent, the hairs simple or branched. Leaves opposite, strongly aromatic when crushed, with translucent oil glands and prominent lateral veins. Flowers small to medium, in axillary dichasial cymes or panicles; bracts and bracteoles early deciduous; hypanthium little prolonged beyond the ovary; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5, white; stamens numerous, the filaments free, the anthers opening by longitudinal slits; ovary 2-locular (rarely 1- or 3-locular), the locules with l(-2-7) ovules, the style filiform, the stigma nearly capitate. Fruit a 1-4-seeded berry, crowned by the persistent sepals.
Distribution and Ecology - About 15 species, primarily in the West Indies and Central America.
Genus Description - Trees, glabrous or pubescent, the hairs simple or branched. Leaves opposite, strongly aromatic when crushed, with translucent oil glands and prominent lateral veins. Flowers small to medium, in axillary dichasial cymes or panicles; bracts and bracteoles early deciduous; hypanthium little prolonged beyond the ovary; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5, white; stamens numerous, the filaments free, the anthers opening by longitudinal slits; ovary 2-locular (rarely 1- or 3-locular), the locules with l(-2-7) ovules, the style filiform, the stigma nearly capitate. Fruit a 1-4-seeded berry, crowned by the persistent sepals.
Distribution and Ecology - About 15 species, primarily in the West Indies and Central America.