Alangium Lam. (1783), the only genus in the family Alangiaceae, contains 21 species in eastern Asia, Africa, and Australasia. Description Trees to 17m, or shrubs. The leaves are alternate, deciduous or evergreen, sometimes lobed. The flowers are in loose, branched clusters in the leaf axils, usually white, rarely yellow, scented. Sepals 4–10, often very small and apparently lacking; petals 4–10, narrow, curled back in the open flower. Stamens 4–30, with long, basifixed anthers and short, often hairy filaments. Ovary inferior or partly superior, with 2 fused carpels each containing 1 ovule; style 1, with a rounded stigma. Pollination is presumed to be by bees. The fruits are small, rounded, and juicy, with only 1 seed developing. Key Recognition Features The small flowers with curled back petals in the leaf axils, and the lobed, alternate leaves. Evolution and Relationships Alangiaceae is related to the Cornaceae; this relationship is traditional in botanical systems and has been confirmed by DNA studies. Alangiaceae, Cornaceae, and Nyssaceae are grouped together in the Cornales, most of which have small flowers and 1-seeded fruits. Ecology and Geography In forests; mostly in tropical Africa, with 2 or 3 species in northern Australia and New Caledonia, and around
3 species in China. The evergreen A. chinense (Lour.) Harms is found in East Africa and from India eastwards to China. Comment Alangium platanifolium (Sieb. & Zucc.) Harms, from China, Korea, and Japan, is sometimes grown as an ornamental. Alangium villosum (Blume) Wangerin, the Australian muskwood, has scented timber when freshly cut. |
