Coastal shrubs, much-branched, with conspicuous leaf scars on older stems. Leaves sessile or with a short petiole, alternate, crowded, simple, oblanceolate, thick, venation ± invisible; margin entire, revolute. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, solitary or in few-flowered cymes, scarcely exceeding the leaves. Calyx deeply 5-lobed. Petals 5, free, imbricate. Stamens 10 in 2 whorls. Ovary superior, consisting of 5 free densely pilose carpels. Fruits dry, 1-seeded, capable of floating. Comment: In FZ, Suriana maritima was included in the family Simaroubaceae, but is now regarded as belonging to a separate family, Surianaceae. Worldwide: 5 species in 4 genera, pantropical and in warm regions, 3 endemic in Australia; Suriana is the only genus and S. maritima the only species in southern tropical Africa. Mozambique: 1 genus and 1 taxon. |
|