SONNERATIACEAE
NB Synonym of Lythraceae, which includes Sonneratia and Duabanga in their own subfamilies.
Morphological description
Trees.
Leaves
Leaves opposite, simple, entire, exstipulate.
Inflorescence
Inflorescence usually terminal.
Flowers
Flowers hermaphroditic, actinomorphic, calyx lobes valvate, inflexed in bud; ovary superior, 4- or more-celled; usually stamens numerous, style 1 with capitate stigma.
Fruit
Fruit broadly attached to persistent calyx, seeds numerous.
Seed
Seeds numerous.
Different from: Crypteroniaceae: ovary inferior and/or seeds winged. — Lythraceae: fruit base not fused with calyx, nodes not thickened.
Distribution: A family of 2 genera: - Duabanga (Indo-Malesia), inland primary and secondary forest, fruit a capsule; - Sonneratia (East Africa to Queensland and Fiji), mangrove trees with pneuma-tophores, fruit a dry berry.
Notes: Sonneratiaceae have sometimes been united with Crypteroniaceae, Lythraceae and Myrtaceae. — Flowers pollinated by bats, fruit of Sonneratia eaten by mammals, the seeds are buoyant, the tiny seeds of Duabanga are wind-dispersed; some local use as timber.
Literature: C.A. Backer & C.G.G.J. van Steenis, Fl. Males. I, 4 (1951) 280-289; I, 6 (1972) 973-976.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): Duabanga 65, 100 - Sonneratia 16.
Illustrations: Fig. 159. Sonneratia griffithii Kurz: a. habit; b & c. flowers; d-f. fruits and root system.
Image in PhytoImages for Lythraceae