肥皂荚属 fei zao jia shu

Authors: Dezhao Chen, Prof. Dianxiang Zhang & Kai Larsen

Trees, deciduous, unarmed. Branches robust. Leaves abruptly bipinnate; stipules caducous, small. Inflorescences racemes or corymbose panicles, terminal. Flowers whitish, actinomorphic, polygamous or plants dioecious. Receptacle discoid. Sepals 5, sub­equal, narrow. Petals 4 or 5, slightly longer than sepals, oblong, imbricate, innermost one sometimes absent. Stamens 10, free, shorter than corolla, alternately shorter and longer; filaments thick, slightly villous; anthers dorsifixed, opening by lateral slits. Ovary in male flowers reduced or absent, in female or bisexual flowers sessile, 7- or 8-ovuled; style straight, slightly thick and compressed; stigma oblique. Legume sessile, turgid, subterete, 2-valved, full of pulp inside between seeds. Seeds large; testa leathery; radicle erect, short.

Three or four species: North America and S Asia; one species (endemic) in China.

Lower Taxon

• Gymnocladus chinensis Baillon