Fatoua
Description
Subshrubs or herbs, monoecious, latex absent.
Leaves distichous;
stipules free, lateral.
Inflorescences bisexual (or unisexual), in pairs or solitary in the axils of the leaves, short-branched cymose or spicate, abaxially without flowers.
stamens 4, inflexed in the bud, Pistillate flowers sessile;
ovary free, style lateral, one of the stigmas strongly reduced.
seed with endosperm, embryo curved, cotyledons equal and flat, radicle long.
Distribution
Madagascar present, from Japan to New Caledonia present
The genus comprises two species, one extending from Japan to New Caledonia and the other only known from Madagascar.
Morphology
The genus shows similarities to Bleekrodea in the bisexual inflorescences and the dehiscent drupes. Moreover, in F. villosa the inflorescence is short-branched cymose like in Bleekrodea. However, in the Madagascan species, F. madagascariensis Leandri (1948), the inflorescence is racemose to spicate.
An anatomical study by revealed the absence of lactiferous elements in the Madagascan species.
An anatomical study by revealed the absence of lactiferous elements in the Madagascan species.