短缩茎组 duan suo jing zu

Myobroma Steven, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 29(2): 150. 1856.

Plants perennial, acaulescent or with distinct stems, sometimes subshrubby, with basifixed hairs. Leaves imparipinnate, some­times with hardened rachises; stipules mostly adnate to petiole. Racemes sessile or with a well-developed peduncle, 1- to many flow­ered. Calyx mostly tubular, more rarely campanulate. Petals mostly yellow, often fading red or from beginning red or purplish, of very different shapes and sizes, glabrous or hairy. Style sometimes with hairy stigma or hairy below stigma (but not in Chinese species). Legumes very variable, 1-locular to 2-locular.

About 275 species: from Europe and N Africa to Siberia, China, and India; 18 species (three endemic) in China.