Rutaceae

Abstract

Trees or shrubs, sometimes scandent, rarely herbs, sometimes spiny or aculeate, usually (but not in all Cneoroideae) with schizogenous (mostly pellucid) glands containing volatile oils on leaves, young branchlets, inflorescences, flower parts, pericarp and cotyledons, and with oil cells in parenchymatous tissue; cork subepidermal. Leaves alternate, opposite, or whorled, entire or toothed, variously compound, unifoliolate, or simple, the rhachis sometimes winged; stipules 0. Inflorescences panicles, thyrses, racemes, spikes, botryoids, sciadioids, heads, umbels, or cincinni. Flowers bisexual or unisexual, usually 3--5-merous, actinomorphic or rarely somewhat zygomorphic, hypogynous or sometimes perigynous; sepals distinct to completely connate; petals distinct or sometimes coherent or connate for part of their length; stamens twice the number of petals or equal to it or sometimes more numerous (50--100 in Clymenia), obdiplostemonous, the antepetalous stamens often transformed into staminodia or 0; filaments distinct or sometimes coherent or connate for part of their length; anthers 4-sporangiate, longitudinally dehiscent, introrse or sometimes latrorse; disk (sometimes 0) intrastaminal, nectariferous; gynoecium often inserted on gynophore, of 1--5(--many) carpels, ranging from more or less apocarpous with distinct or only proximally connate ovarioles and stylodia usually joined in a common style or at least with joined stigmas to completely syncarpous; each carpel with 1 locule and 1--several (rarely many) ovules; ovules bitegmic or very rarely (Glycosmis) unitegmic, crassinucellar, anatropous or hemitropous, more or less epitropous; placentation axile, very rarely parietal.