Staphyleaceae
Y. NASIR
Stewart Herbarium, Gordon College, Rawalpindi.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves compound, usually opposite, pinnate or trifoliolate, stipulate. Flowers bisexual or unisexual, regular, in racemes or panicles. Sepals 5, united or free, imbricate. Petals 5, free, imbricate. Stamens 5, alternating with the petals. Disc if present hypogynous. Carpels 3, rarely 2 or 4, free or united; ovary superior; placentation axile with numerous ovules. Fruit an inflated capsule, a drupe or a berry. Seeds few, with scanty endosperm.
A family of 5 genera and 60 species; tropical and N. temperate Asia, N. America and Europe. Represented in W. Pakistan by 1 genus only.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the United States Department of Agriculture for financing this research under P. L. 480. Thanks are also due to Mr. B. L. Burtt of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh for his helpful suggestions.
