Small trees to shrubs. Buttresses absent. Spines absent. Stilt roots absent. Bark gray, brown; not peeling in strips. Exudate absent. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.
Complex hairs absent. Stinging hairs absent. Mature twig indumentum present, or absent; dense, or sparse.
Leaves opposite; not scale-like; simple; all of the same type; not modified into spines; coriaceous, or leathery; not gland-dotted; symmetric at the base; not dissected; smooth margined. Epidermis not waxy. Venation trinerved. Secondary veins open; prominent. Smallest veins not prominent, but visible; ladder like. Intramarginal vein present. Stalk of blade less than a quarter the length of the blade to a quarter to one half the length of the blade; not winged; attached to base of leaf blade; not swollen. Stipules absent. Domatia absent. Basal glands absent. Hairs on mature leaf present, or absent; dense, or sparse.
Inflorescences present, or represented by solitary flowers only; terminal, or axillary; on a branched axis; specialized inflorescence units absent; numerous and persistent inflorescence bracts absent. Flowers bisexual; stalked; about 0.5 cm long or across, or to about 3 cm long or across, or to about 10 cm long or across; round, or somewhat asymmetric; with male or female parts not raised on a column. Hypanthium present. Disk absent. Perianth present; with distinct calyx and corolla whorls. Sepals (4-)5(-6); partially joined; persistent in fruit, or not persistent in fruit; not growing any further after flowering. Epicalyx absent. Petals present; (4-)5(-6); free; not fleshy; deciduous; not stalked; entire. Stamens 8-12; filaments present; free of each other; free of the perianth; all equal in size; diplostemonous. Anthers 2 loculed; attached along the side; not awned; dehiscing by long slits. Ovary inferior. Carpels joined; 4-6. Locules 4-6. Styles solitary. Stigmas 1 lobed; not distinctive. Fruit capsular, or berry-like; fleshy; not multiple; not splitting; not enclosed in, or sitting on, fleshy perianth parts; wingless. Seeds 100 per fruit (many); barely visible; wingless; uniform in cross-section; aril absent; non-endospermic.
Leaves 3-7 nerved; flowers showy; fruit a fleshy berry. Taxon images: genmelas.gif
Cite this publication as: Jarvie, J.K. and
Ermayanti (1996 onwards). `Tree Genera of Borneo – Descriptions and
Illustrations’ URL
http://django.harvard.edu/users/jjarvie/Borneo.htm/.
Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz,
Paine and Zurcher (1993) should also be cited.
