590 



SAPOTACE.E. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



Order CCXXVII. SAPOTACE^.— Sapotads. 



Sapotae, Juss. Gen. 151. (178.9).— Sapoteae, R. Brown Prodr. 528. (1810).— Sapotacese, Endl. Prodr. 

 Nor/. 48. (1833) ; Gen. clviii. ; Meisn. p. 159 ; Alph. DC. Prodr. 8. 154. 



Diagnosis. — Rhamnal Exogens, ^vith monopetaloiis fioioers, epipetalous stamens, ascending 

 ovules, a short radicle, and amygdaloid cotyledons. 



Trees or shrubs, chiefly natives of the tropics, and often abounding in milky juice. 

 Leaves alternate, or occasionally almost whorled, without stipules, entii'e, coriaceous. 

 Inflorescence axillary. Flowers hermaplirodite. Calyx regular, 

 persistent, in 5, or occasionally 4-8 divisions, which are 

 either valvate or imbricate in aestivation. Corolla monopeta- 

 lous, hypogynous, regulai', deciduous, its segments usually 

 equal in number to those of the calyx, seldom t^\ice or tlu'ice 

 as many, imbricated in aestivation. Stamens arising from the 

 coroUa, in number definite, distinct, the fertile ones equal in 

 nimiber to the segments of the calyx, and opposite those seg- 

 ments of the corolla which alternate with the latter, seldom 

 more ; anthers usually turned outwards. The sterile stamens 

 as numerous as the fertile ones, with wliich they alternate. 

 Disk 0. Ovary superior, with several cells, in each of which 

 is 1 ascending or pendulous anatropal o%'ule ; style 1 ; stigma 

 undivided, occasionally lobed. Fruit fleshy, with several 

 1 -seeded cells, or by abortion mth only 1. Seeds nut-like, 

 sometimes cohering into a several-celled putamen. Testa 

 bony, sliining, with a vei'y long scar on the inner face where it 

 is opaque, and softer than the rest. Embryo erect, large, 

 white, usually inclosed in fleshy albumen. Cotyledons, when 

 albumen is present, fohaceous ; when absent, fleshy and some- 

 times connate. Radicle short, straight, or a httle cm'ved, 

 turned towards the hilum. 



This Order is certainly near Ebenads, with which it 

 agrees in habit, arborescent stem, alternate entire leaves, and 

 axillary inflorescence ; and, moreover, m its monopetalous 

 regular hypogynous corolla, the absence of a hypogjTious disk, 

 an ovary with several cells, and definite o\niles and stamens. 

 The two Orders, however, differ in several points. Sapotads 

 have usually a milky juice, and theu' wood is among the softer 

 kinds ; their flowers are always hermaphrodite; the segments 

 of the calyx and coroUa are often placed in a double row ; 

 their stamens are always in a single row, the fertile ones 

 rarely more numerous than the segments of the calyx, and 

 opposite the divisions of the corolla ; theu- style isundi\ided; 

 the cells of the ovai'y are always l-seeded, mth erect ovules ; 

 the testa is thick and bony ; the embryo is large mth respect to the fleshy albumen, 

 which is sometimes deficient ; the radicle is very short and inferior. In Ebenads 

 there is no milk, and the wood is very hard ; the flowers are often unisexual by abortion ; 

 the segments of the calyx and coroUa are almost always in a single row ; the stamens 

 are usually doubled, and either twice or four times as munerous as the segments of the 

 corolla, or, if equal to them, alternate with them ; the style is generally divided, the cells 

 of the ovary sometimes 2-seeded, the ovules always pendulous, the testa thin and soft, 

 the embryo middle-sized or small in respect to the cartilaginous albumen, which is 

 always present ; the radicle is of middling length, or very long and superior. It is 

 worth remarking, that the woody shell of the seed of Sapotads is certainly testa, and not 

 putamen, as is proved by the presence of the micropyle upon it. They are also comparable 

 with Ardisiads, whose abundant albumen and free central placenta render it necessary 



Fig. CCCCL— 1 . flower of a Sapota; 2. its corolla ; 3. the same cut open ; 4. the pistil; 5. half a fruit 

 of Bassia longifolia ; 5, 6. its seed, whole and cut across. 



