Sabiaceae

Feathery leaves and bark of Meliosma veitchiorum

The Sabiaceae are a standing isolated flowering plant family ( Magnoliopsida ). They come from the tropics of eastern Asia prior to Malaysia, New Guinea and to the Solomon Islands, in Central and South America.

Description

They are evergreen or deciduous woody plants: trees, shrubs ( Meliosma and Ophiocaryon ) or lianas ( Sabia ).

The mostly arranged, alternate and spirally along the branches, stalked leaves are simple and compound, and are usually leathery. The leaf margins are smooth or serrated. Stipules absent.

The small flowers appear singly in the leaf axils or they are grouped in axillary or terminal zymösen or paniculate inflorescences. The most hermaphrodite or rarely unisexual flowers are radial symmetry ( Sabia ) or zygomorphic ( Meliosma, Ophiocaryon ) and are usually fünfzählig. There are usually five (three to seven) free or deformed at its base sepals. Most free or fused petals are five (four to seven) available; they may be the same, or the two are significantly smaller than the inner external three. There is only one ( the inner) circle (rarely four) usually five free or intergrown with the base of the petals stamens present, they are either all fertile ( Sabia ) or three are sterile. It is a small discus available. Two or three carpels are partially or completely fused to superior ovaries. In each flower there are so many style such as carpels or has only one of then as many scars as carpels.

The arrangement of the sepals, petals and stamens, which are all on the same radii, is highly unusual.

There are usually formed flattened and distinctly curved stone fruits.

System

The Sabiaceae are very basal within the Eudikotyledonen. Maybe they are the sister group of the Proteales, but this is only hedged weak. If this relationship is confirmed, the family would be placed in an extended order Proteales.

The Sabiaceae family contains only three genera with 80 to 160 species:

• Meliosma flower: It contains about 50 species in Southeast Asia, Central and South America. 29 species occur in China, ten of them only there.
• Ophiocaryon Endl. Contains approximately nine tree and shrub species from tropical South America, especially on the Guayanaschild and in the Amazon basin.
• Sabia Colebr. Contains approximately 30 mostly climbing species in Southeast Asia and Southern Asia. 17 species occur in China, seven of them only there.

Swell

• The order of Sabiales in APWebsite. ( Section systematics)
• Lixiu Guo & Anthony R. Brach: Sabiaceae. Pp. 25, text Registered as printed work. Wu Zheng -yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (eds.): Flora of China. Volume 12: Hippocastanaceae through Theaceae. Science Press, among other things, inter alia, Beijing 2007, ISBN 978-1-930723-64-1 (Sections Description, distribution and systematics).
• Description in the Flora of Pakistan. (English )