Siparunaceae Schodde

Milliken, W., Klitgard, B. and Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Morphology General Habit

Dioecious or monoecious shrubs, treelets, or trees (to 40 m tall and to 120 cm in dbh).  Leaves opposite, decussate or in whorls of 3, 4, or 6, petiolate, sparsely or densely pubescent, the hairs simple, tufted, stellate, stellate - lepidote, or lepidote (peltate scales), the older leaves sometimes glabrous, the margin dentate, serrate, or entire

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences mono- or dichasial cymes, sometimes bifid or fasciculate, axillary and/or on leafless nodes. Flowers unisexual, pedicellate, the receptacle subglobose or cup-shaped, rarely urceolate or flask-shaped, completely enclosing the carpels or stamens, at anthesis the latter protruding from a variably-sized pore in the center of the floral roof, the 4-6(-8) tepals usually small, triangular, rounded, or spatulate, or forming a rim encircling the floral cup, rarely a calyptra (S. decipiens DC.), the floral roof (velum) in female flowers sometimes differentiated into an outer bulge and an inner tube tightly sheathing the styles; stamens usually 5-9, occasionally 1 or up to 72, free, rarely their filaments laterally fused, dispersed irregularly in the floral cup except in flowers with very few stamens, the 2 pollen sacs introrse, closely adjacent, and opening by a single flap, the filaments unappendaged and undifferentiated; carpels 3-35, styles free, sometimes postgenitally fused, the stigmas papillose and decurrent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

"Mature fruiting receptacles fleshy and 1.5-4 cm in diam., globose, smooth, spiny, or with tubercles, rarely almond-shaped or with longitudinal ribs, often crowned by the persistent tepals, when fresh and mature reddish or yellow, with a strong pungent scent, commonly splitting irregularly from the apex and spreading to reveal the drupelets; drupelets fresh with a translucent bluish gray exo- and mesocarp and a stony endocarp, in most dioecious species drupelets bearing an apical or lateral reddish orange outgrowth of the style basis (""stylar aril ""), rarely the drupelets lacking an appendage and/or the receptacle not splitting open at maturity"

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds Germination

Germination epigeal.

Diagnostic

Key differences from similar families: Rarely confused except Siparunadecipiens DC., which is often mistaken for Perabenensis Rusby (Euphorbiaceae). Leaf margin (whether entire or toothed) is the best first character to distinguish a smaller set of entire-margined species, which can then be separated based on inflorescence branching and flower and fruit size. Whether the fruits are smooth or spiny is another easy character to use. Species are often difficult to identify, however. Distinguishing characters (always present): Leaves opposite, decussate or in whorls of 3, 4, or 6. Flowers closed, somewhat fig-like, only the style tips or anther tips emerging from an apical ostiole. Entire plant has a lemon odour, especially when crushed (but not in herbarium material).

Distribution

Siparunaceae are not cultivated, with the exception of a few botanical gardens in Europe that have tried to include odd species in their warm-tropical green houses. No species is known to be invasive. Distributed from Central America and the West Indies throughout northern South America to Paraguay. In lowland and montane forests to 3,800 m elev.

Note

This is a Neotropical family with one other genus (and species) species in Africa (Glossocalyx longicuspis Benth.), which is treated (also nomenclaturally) in the Flora Neotropica monograph cited below. The disjunction appears to be Gondwanan, not the result of more recent long distance dispersal. Number of genera: One Neotropical genus:  Siparuna Aubl.:  (at least 53 spp.) from tropical Mexico south through Central America, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, and northern South America to Bolivia and Paraguay. Notes on delimitation: Clearly monophyletic morphologically as well as based on chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences.