Hypericaceae Jussieu

Cabral, Fernanda Nunes, Bittrich, Volker & Hopkins, Michael John Gilbert, 2017, Clusiaceae s. l. (Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae s. s. and Hypericaceae) in the Viruá National Park, Roraima, Brazil, Phytotaxa 329 (1), pp. 1-27 : 18-19

Hypericaceae Jussieu

Type: Hypericum Linnaeus (1753: 783) .

Small trees to shrubs or annual to perennial herbs. Exudate yellow or orange or exudate absent. Leaves simple, opposite, without stipules, margin entire, usually with glandular dots. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, cymose, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, sepals 4–5, free, imbricate; petals 4–5, free, cochleate or contorted; stamens 15 to numerous, sometimes grouped in fascicles, staminodes occasionally with nectary function; ovary superior (2–)3– 5(6–8) carpels, placentation axillar or parietal, ovules many. Fruit capsule, drupe or berry. Seeds (5–) many, cotyledons moderate in size.

Hypericaceae is composed of 7 genera and about 700 neo- and paleotropical species and it can be divided in three tribes: Vismieae (pantropical), Cratoxyleae (paleotropical) and Hypericeae (pantropical, especially Northern Hemisphere) ( Stevens 2001, onwards, Ruhfel et al. 2011). In Brazil, the family is represented by 52 species ( BFG 2015).

8 Vismia Vandelli (1788: 51) .

Type: Vismia cayennensis (Jacq.) Persoon (1807: 86) .

Shrubs, small trees or trees; exudate orange or yellow. Leaves opposite, lamina rusty tomentose in most species, especially on the abaxial surface, conspicuous dark glands; secondary veins conspicuous. Inflorescence terminal, cymose, indument tomentose. Flowers hermaphrodite, sometimes heterostylous; sepals 5, petals 5, contorted or cochleate. Stamens 15 to numerous grouped into five fascicles opposite the petals, usually with a staminodial nectary opposite the sepals. Ovary with 5 locules, several ovules per locule, style 5, stigma expanded. Fruit a coriaceous berry. Seeds numerous.

Neotropical; with ca. 65 species ( Robson 1998) and 29 species in Brazil ( BFG 2015).