红胶木属 hong jiao mu shu

Trees. Leaves alternate or pseudo-whorled, clustered at apex of branches, rarely opposite. Inflorescences axillary, dichasium; bracts caducous or absent. Flowers bisexual. Hypanthium ovate or obconiform, pubescent. Sepals 5, imbricate, persistent. Petals 5, white or yellow, pubescent. Stamens numerous; filaments usually basally connate into 5 bundles opposite petals; anthers dorsifixed, locules parallel, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary semi-inferior, 3-loculed; ovules numerous. Style shorter than stamens; stigma slightly ampliate. Capsule semiglobose or cup-shaped, apically flatted truncate, splitting into 3 parts but still surrounded by hypanthium. Seeds few, linear, sometimes winged.

Four species: Australia, S New Guinea; one species (cultivated) in China.

Lower Taxon

• Lophostemon confertus (R. Brown) Peter G. Wilson & J. T. Waterhouse