Small trees to shrubs, or herbs. Buttresses absent. Spines absent. Stilt roots absent. Bark gray, brown; not peeling in strips. Exudate absent. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.
Complex hairs present; star-like. Stinging hairs absent. Mature twig indumentum present, or absent; dense, or sparse.
Leaves spiral; not scale-like; simple; all of the same type; not modified into spines; coriaceous; not gland-dotted; symmetric at the base; not dissected; wavy margined, or with small to large teeth on margin. Epidermis not waxy. Venation palmate. Secondary veins open; prominent. Smallest veins prominent; ladder like. Intramarginal vein absent. Stalk of blade a quarter to one half the length of the blade to more than half the length of the blade; not winged; attached to base of leaf blade; not swollen. Stipules present; free from one another; laterally placed; not encircling the twig; leafy; not fringed; large; persistent. Domatia absent. Basal glands absent. Hairs on mature leaf present; dense, or sparse.
Inflorescences present; 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 to to about 3 cm long or across; round; with male or female parts raised on a column; with male and female parts raised on a stalk. Hypanthium absent. Disk absent. Perianth present; with distinct calyx and corolla whorls. Sepals 5; partially joined; not persistent in fruit; not growing any further after flowering. Epicalyx absent. Petals present; 5; free; not fleshy; deciduous; not stalked; entire. Stamens 5; filaments present; joined; free of the perianth; all equal in size; isomerous; alternating with the sepals (when isomerous). Anthers 2 loculed; attached along the side; not awned; dehiscing by long slits. Ovary superior. Carpels joined; 5. Locules 5. Styles solitary. Stigmas 5 lobed; not distinctive. Fruit capsular; non-fleshy; not multiple; splitting; not enclosed in, or sitting on, fleshy perianth parts; wingless. Seeds 5-10 per fruit; less than 5 mm; winged; uniform in cross-section; aril absent; endospermic.
Leaves heart shaped at the base, hairy, margins generally dentate; seeds small and winged. Taxon images: melochia.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.
