Family Blepharocaryaceae

Blepharocaryaceae Airy Shaw

~ Anacardiaceae

Habit and leaf form. Tall, buttressed trees. Leaves opposite; compound; pinnate (paripinnate, the leaflets opposite).

Leaf anatomy. Lamina probably with secretory cavities. Secretory cavities containing resin.

Stem anatomy. Secretory cavities probably present; with resin. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Wood parenchyma paratracheal (sparse).

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers functionally male, or functionally female. Plants dioecious. Gynoecium of male flowers pistillodial.

Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in glomerules. Inflorescences (male and female) terminal and axillary; panicles of glomerules; with involucral bracts. Flowers minute; regular; 4–5 merous; cyclic.

Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 8, or 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 4, or 5; 1 whorled; shortly gamosepalous (male), or polysepalous (female); imbricate. Corolla 4 (male), or 4–5 (female); 1 whorled; polypetalous; imbricate.

Androecium in males 8 (4+4). Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another; 2 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 8; isomerous with the perianth.

Gynoecium in female flowers 1 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium monomerous; of one carpel; superior. Carpel 1 ovuled.

Fruit non-fleshy. The fruiting carpel indehiscent. Dispersal unit the inflorescence (the ultimate branches of which are concrescent, forming a many-valved, woody, bracteate cupule — cf. Castanea). Seeds non-endospermic.

Geography, cytology. Australian. Tropical. Northern and Eastern Australia.

Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Rutiflorae; Sapindales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Sapindales. APG (1998) Eudicot; core Eudicot; Rosid; Eurosid II. APG 3 (2009) Order: Sapindales.

Species 2. Genera 1; only genus, Blepharocarya.

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