Meliaceae.
The Mahogany family has about 50 genera and 575 species.
Almost all are trees or shrubs with a few herbs.
Many parts have simple, stellate or glandular hairs.
Most have alternately arranged leaves in a spiral.
Glands are present in the swollen petiole base.
Blades may be simple but most are compound being once or twice divided.
Some species have blades with only 2 or 3 leaflets.
Leaf and leaflet edges may be smooth, lobed or have small sharp or blunt teeth (serrate or crenate).
Most have axillary or terminal inflorescences but some are opposite a leaf or on bare wood.
Most inflorescences are a branched cluster (panicle) while there are some with only 1 or 2 flowers or a spike.
The ultimate branches may be a raceme or a cyme with flowers opening from the base or top first respectively.
Most species have bisexual flowers but some have male or female on the same or different plants.
The sepals are usually fused at the base with 3 to 5 (7) lobes.
Usually there are 3 to 7 free petals and where more they can be in 1 or 2 whorls.
Sometimes they are fused to the filaments and rarely basally fused.
The 3 to many stamens, up to 1.5 cm long are in 1 to many whorls.
Usually the filaments are fused to form a variously shaped staminal tube.
The tube may be of typical filaments or petal-like.
Sometimes the filaments are free or fused to the petals.
Anthers are on the top of the tube or occasionally on free filaments.
They open inwards through longitudinal slits.
The top of the staminal tube may have 5 to many appendages that are sometimes referred to as staminodes.
They can alternate with the anthers or be opposite them.
There may be a nectiferous disc usually between the stamens and the ovary.
The nectary may be fused to the stamen filaments or the ovary.
The superior ovary, usually of 2 to 6 carpels has an equal number of locules.
Each locule can have 1 to many ovules with usually axile placentation.
There may be 1 style or the variously shaped stigma is directly attached to the ovary.
Fruit can be a septicidal or loculicidal capsule, a berry or a drupe.
Seeds sometimes have wings.
J.F.
