12
Family and Genus Descriptions
Parahancornia Ducke. Trees to 30 m tall. Leaves
opposite. Latex white, abundant. Infructescence axil-
lary or terminal. Fruit a berry, globose, to 5 cm diam-
eter, brown when mature, the exocarp thick, sub-
woody. Seeds various per fruit. Distribution:
Colombia, Brazil, and northeastern Peru.
Apocynaceae - Parahancornia (2.31x; 13.26 x 6.7)
Prestonia R. Br. Lianas. Leaves opposite. Fruit a folli-
cle, in pairs, to 20 cm long, light brown when mature.
Seeds numerous per fruit with plumose, golden-
brown hairs. Plants generally pubescent. Distribution:
Southern Mexico and Guianas to Bolivia and Peru.
Apocynaceae - Prestonia (2.07x; 10.46 x 2.14)
Rauvolfia L. Trees 30 m tall or treelets. Leaves 3- to
5-verticillate. Fruit a berry to 2 cm diameter, green-
yellow to purple when mature, mesocarp white, with
Apocynaceae - Rauvolfia (2.14x; 20.25 x 10.79)
sticky, white latex and strong odor. Seeds one per
fruit. Wood used for lumber. Leaves and roots used
for medicinal properties. Distribution: Brazil, Peru,
Bolivia, and the Old World tropics.
Apocynaceae - Rauvolfia (1.93x; 17.8 x 19.29)
Tabernaemontana L. Trees to 30 m tall or shrubs.
Leaves opposite, variable in size. Latex white, abun-
dant. Fruit a follicle, in pairs, to 4 cm long, green,
brown, or red externally when mature, the inner
walls pinkish-red, and in some species the exocarp
lightly spinose. Seeds various per fruit, covered al-
most completely by an orange aril. Distribution:
Costa Rica and Trinidad to Peru.
Apocynaceae - Tabernaemontana (2.05x; 13.87 x 6.8)
AQUIFOLIACEAE
Trees or shrubs. The leaves black when dry. Cosmo-
politan distribution in temperate and tropical re-
gions with only one genus and few species in the
Amazonian region.
Ilex L. Shrubs or trees to 25 m tall. Leaves simple, al-
ternate, weakly coriaceous. Infructescence axillary.
Fruit a berry to 0.5 cm diameter, yellow or red when
mature. Seeds 3–5, rarely more than eight per fruit.
Various species are used for their wood in construc-
tion and carpentry, others are used as ornamentals.
Distribution: Americas and Old World, temperate and
tropical zones.