Sapotaceae
Fls perfect, regular, bracted, in cymes to solitary; sepals 4-12, imbricate, connate at base; corolla gamopetalous, lobes imbricate, us. as many as sepals; stamens epipetalous, staminodes us. present; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise. Ovary superior, locules us. 4-5, each 1-ovuled, placentae axile; style 1; fr. baccate, seeds with hard testa. Trees or shrubs with milky sap and alt., simple, entire, coriac., us. exstipulate lvs. Some 40 genera and 600 spp., mostly tropical.
The N.Z. sp. belongs to the subfamily Sideroxyloideae defined by Lam (in Rec. Trav. bot. néerl. 36, 1939, 523): "Sepals spirally arranged, flowers fundamentally 5-merous, the petals without appendages, with one epipetalous staminal and one alternipetalous staminodial whorl or with one whorl of epipetalous stamens only. This type comprises some 28 genera with almost 450 species in all tropical countries." (quoted from Proc. 6th Pacif. Sci. Congr. 4, 1940, 673).
