Clarisia
Description
Trees or shrubs, dioecious. Leaves alternate and distichous; stipules lateral, free; blade entire or pinnately incised, pinnately veined. Inflorescences in the leaf axils or on leafless branchlets or spurs on the older wood, pedunculate, bracteate. Staminate inflorescences spicate; flowers indistinct; tepals (2-)3-5(-7), free or connate; stamens 1-3; pistillode absent. Pistillate inflorescences capitate or uniflorous; perianth tubular, 4-lobed; ovary adnate to the perianth or almost free; stigmas 2, filiform or tongue-shaped. Fruiting perianth enlarged, fleshy, red or orange; fruit adnate to the perianth; seed large, without endosperm, cotyledons thick and equal.
Wood
Vessels diffuse, solitary (29-50%) and in short multiples and irregular clusters of 2-5, round to slightly oval, in C. racemosa 4-5 per sq. mm, in C. ilicifolia 7-13 per sq. mm, in C. racemosa diameter 145-200 μm and in C. ilicifolia 70-105 μm. Vessel-member length: in C. racemosa 350-400 μm and in C. ilicifolia 310-320 μm. Perforations simple. Intervascular pits alternate, round and polygonal, 6-10 μm. Vessel-ray and vessel- parenchyma pits larger, elongated and irregularly shaped, half-bordered, the borders sometimes reduced. Thin-walled tyloses common. White deposits frequent, orange deposits occasional present.
Rays uniseriate and 3-5-seriate, 4-7 per mm, up to 600-1560 μm high.
Heterogeneous to occasionally almost homogeneous, composed of procumbent cells, except for the uniseriate margins of 1-2 cells of square and/or upright cells. Sheath cells present, but scarce. Rhombic crystals present, more common inC. ilicifolia than in C. racemosa . Radial latex tubes observed in some samples of C. ilicifolia .
Parenchyma vasicentric-aliform with short, and occasionally long wings, but predominantly banded, varying from commonly wavy bands to sometimes concentric bands, 2-6(8) cells wide and 1-3 (4) per mm. Terminal bands occasionally present. Strands of 2-4 cells. Sporadically rhombic crystals do occur.
Fibers non-septate, lumen 6-20 μm, walls 2-4 μm. Pits simple, small, restricted to the radial walls. Gelatinous fibres often present. Length: 960-1315 μm. F/V ratio: 3.8-4.2 inC. ilicifolia and 3.2-3.3 in C. racemosa .
Vitreous silica common in the vessels, but generally scarce.
Rays uniseriate and 3-5-seriate, 4-7 per mm, up to 600-1560 μm high.
Heterogeneous to occasionally almost homogeneous, composed of procumbent cells, except for the uniseriate margins of 1-2 cells of square and/or upright cells. Sheath cells present, but scarce. Rhombic crystals present, more common in
Parenchyma vasicentric-aliform with short, and occasionally long wings, but predominantly banded, varying from commonly wavy bands to sometimes concentric bands, 2-6(8) cells wide and 1-3 (4) per mm. Terminal bands occasionally present. Strands of 2-4 cells. Sporadically rhombic crystals do occur.
Fibers non-septate, lumen 6-20 μm, walls 2-4 μm. Pits simple, small, restricted to the radial walls. Gelatinous fibres often present. Length: 960-1315 μm. F/V ratio: 3.8-4.2 in
Vitreous silica common in the vessels, but generally scarce.