Glycosmis Correa

Scientific Description

Family Rutaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs; evergreen; bearing essential oils. Plants unarmed. Mesophytic, or xerophytic. Leaves alternate, or opposite; leathery; petiolate; non-sheathing; gland-dotted; aromatic; compound; unifoliolate, or ternate, or pinnate; imparipinnate. Leaflets 1–7. Lateral leaflets alternate. Leaflets ovate, or oblong, or obovate, or elliptic. Leaf blades pinnately veined, or one-veined. Leaves without stipules, or with stipules. Stipules when present, intrapetiolar; represented by glands. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Stem anatomy. Nodes unilacunar, or tri-lacunar. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Entomophilous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes, or in panicles. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary; often densely racemose. Flowers pedicellate; bracteate; small to large; fragrant; regular, or somewhat irregular. The floral asymmetry when noticeable, involving the perianth and involving the androecium (not K). Flowers 4–5 merous; cyclic. Floral receptacle developing a gynophore (associated with the disk), or with neither androphore nor gynophore. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; intrastaminal; annular (sometimes one-sided), or of separate members. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous (members united to the middle); lobed; imbricate; regular; with the median member posterior. Calyx lobes ovate, or triangular. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous, or gamopetalous; imbricate; regular, or unequal but not bilabiate; white. Petals when polypetalous, oblong, or ovate, or obovate, or orbicular, or elliptic. Corolla lobes when gamopetalous, oblong, or ovate, or obovate, or orbicular, or elliptic. Androecium 8–10. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal, or markedly unequal; free of one another; 1 -whorled, or 2 -whorled. Stamens 8–10; diplostemonous; alternisepalous; filantherous. Filaments glabrous. Anthers dorsifixed, or basifixed (? more or less); versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse, or latrorse; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2–5 carpelled. The pistil 2–5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious, or synstylovarious, or eu-syncarpous; superior, or partly inferior, or inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2–5 locular; sessile, or stipitate. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1, or 3–5; free, or partially joined; apical; shorter than the ovary at anthesis; persistent. Stigmas wet type, or dry type; papillate, or non-papillate; Group II type, or Group IV type. Placentation axile. Ovules 1 per locule; pendulous; epitropous; arillate, or non-arillate; anatropous, or hemianatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy, or non-fleshy; white (or pink); indehiscent; a berry; 1–3 seeded. Seeds ovate or oblong; non-endospermic; not conspicuously hairy. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo chlorophyllous, or achlorophyllous; straight, or curved, or bent. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar, or cryptocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found. Photosynthetic pathway: C₃.

Geography, cytology, number of species. A genus of c. 50 species.