ABSTRACT
Woody plants (trees or spiny shrubs), covered with scaly or whitish stellate hairs on the entire aerial part, especially on the leaves. The leaves are simple, entire, arranged alternately or oppositely. The flowers are hermaphroditic, polygamous, or unisexual-dioecious, actinomorphic, with a simple floral envelope, arranged axillary, solitary, or in pauciflorus racemes. The perigone may have 2 or 4 (sometimes 6) sepaloid tepals; the androecium consists of 4–8 stamens inserted on the internal walls of the receptacle. The receptacle of male flowers has a plate or cup-like appearance. The receptacle of female and hermaphrodite flowers is large, cylindrical, long, tightly enveloping the ovary only at the base or entirely and becomes fleshy at maturity, accreting with the fruit, which has a drupaceous appearance, with membranous pericarp, surrounded by the persistent, fleshy receptacle. The seed has a woody tegument and is exalbuminous. 1 - 4
