Guaiacum
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Zygophyllaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Genus Description - Small trees with hard wood. Leaves opposite, pinnately compound with (1—)2—3 pairs of leaflets; stipules minute, deciduous. Flowers 4-5-merous, bisexual, actinomorphic, long-pedicellate, in terminal umbelliform clusters; sepals bluish or violet; petals bluish to purple, slightly clawed; stamens twice as many as the petals, ascending; disk inconspicuous; ovary 2-5-locular, each locule with 8- 10 parietal ovules, the style stout. Fruit a septicidal capsule, 2-5-winged or lobed; seeds solitary, covered by a bright, fleshy aril.
Distribution and Ecology - A genus of about 6 species, from tropical America.