Sorocea
Description
Shrubs or trees, dioecious. Leaves alternate and distichous; stipules lateral, free; blade entire or dentate, pinnately veined. Inflorescences in the leaf axils or just below the leaves, pedunculate, bracteate. Staminate inflorescences spicate or subcapitate; tepals 4, free or basally connate; stamens 4; pistillode absent. Pistillate inflorescences racemose to subcapitate; perianth tubular, entire or 4-lobed, the upper and lower part more or less different in diam., surface and indument; ovary adnate to the perianth; stigmas 2, tongue-shaped. In fruit rachis and pedicel more or less fleshy, red or orange; perianth enlarged, fleshy, red, finally blackish, fruit and perianth forming a pseudodrupe; seed large, without endosperm, cotyledons very unequal, one minute and flat, the other thick, conduplicate, enclosing the smaller one.
Wood
Vessels diffuse, solitary (24-50%) and in short radial multiples and irregular clusters of 2-4, round to slightly oval, 10-21 per mm, diameter 70-100 μm (90-100 μm in S. hirtella ; 70 μm in S. muriculata ). Vessel- member length: 400-475 μm. Perforations simple. Intervascular pits alternate, round and sometimes polygonal, 7-9 μm. Vessel-ray and vessel-parenchyma pits larger, elongated, half bordered, the borders often reduced. Thin-walled tyloses common.
Rays uniseriate and 2-4-seriate, 6-9 per mm, up to 720-1200 μm. Heterogeneous, composed of procumbent cells, except for the uniseriate margins of 1-3 rows of square and/or upright cells. Rhombic crystals in the square and upright cells from few to abundant.
Parenchyma scanty paratracheal, but predominantly as concentric, sometimes more or less wavy bands enclosing the vessels in part, sometimes also terminal bands present, 2-8 cells wide and 4-6 bands per mm. Strands of 3-4 cells. Few rhombic crystals.
Fibres non-septate, lumen 4-12 μm, walls 2-4 μm. Pits simple, small, restricted to the radial walls. Gelatinous fibres common. Length: 1195-1370. F/V ratio: 2.5-3.4.
Rays uniseriate and 2-4-seriate, 6-9 per mm, up to 720-1200 μm. Heterogeneous, composed of procumbent cells, except for the uniseriate margins of 1-3 rows of square and/or upright cells. Rhombic crystals in the square and upright cells from few to abundant.
Parenchyma scanty paratracheal, but predominantly as concentric, sometimes more or less wavy bands enclosing the vessels in part, sometimes also terminal bands present, 2-8 cells wide and 4-6 bands per mm. Strands of 3-4 cells. Few rhombic crystals.
Fibres non-septate, lumen 4-12 μm, walls 2-4 μm. Pits simple, small, restricted to the radial walls. Gelatinous fibres common. Length: 1195-1370. F/V ratio: 2.5-3.4.