Dioecious trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, compound, imparipinnate, (1-)3-13-foliolate; tertiary nerves generally collected into an oblique nerve directed towards the angle between midrib and lateral nerves (not in S. madagascariensis); leaflets petiolulate. Inflorescences of axillary or terminal panicles, sometimes borne on the old wood. Flowers 5-merous, unisexual. Male flowers: calyx cup-shaped, shallowly 5-lobed or -toothed; petals valvate, longer than the calyx; stamens 10-20; disk minutely crenate. Female flowers: perianth similar to the male flowers; staminodes usually 5; ovary ovoid, 1-locular; style 1 with a 3-lobed stigma, persistent on the fruit. Fruit a 1-seeded, ellipsoid or asymmetrically ovoid, drupe. Worldwide: 50 species in tropical and subtropical Africa and Madagascar Zambia: 3 taxa. |
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