Family Eupomatiaceae
Description: Shrubs or small trees, glabrous, the branchlets zigzag.
Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, simple, entire, glossy above; oil dots, numerous, minute; stipules absent.
Flowers usually terminal, mostly solitary; actinomorphic, bisexual, heavily scented. Bud with basal tubular receptacle and a conical calyptra formed from a modified bract, calyptra shed to reveal ± expanded receptacle. Sepals and petals absent. Stamens numerous, spirally arranged on the rim of the receptacle in 2 or 3 outer rows, with connectives extending above the 2 laterally fused anther lobes; staminodes petaloid, in 3–5 inner rows. Carpels many, fused but the apical parts distinct, spirally arranged on the expanded concave receptacle; stigmas sessile on the surface of each carpel; ovules c. 3 in each carpel.
Fruit a berry; seeds numerous, angular. Pollination is by beetles that feed on the staminodes.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 1 genus, 2 species, Australia & New Guinea. Australia: 1 gen,, 2 species, Qld, N.S.W., Vic.
External links:
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (Family: Eupomatiaceae, Order: Magnoliales)
Wikipedia
Text by G. J. Harden
Taxon concept:
| One genus in NSW: Eupomatia |
|
