3. Subtribe Vauqueliniinae B. B. Liu subtr. nov.

Type.

Vauquelinia Corrêa ex Bonpl.

Description.

Large shrubs or small trees, evergreen. Leaves simple, coriaceous, with serrate margins. Inflorescences terminal, 15–25 + - flowered, compound corymbs. Flowers bisexual, 5 - merous. Hypanthium hemispherical. Sepals 5, erect, broadly ovate, valvate. Petals 5, white, oblong-ovate to oblong-obovate. Stamens 18-20. Carpels 5, free from hypanthium, ventrally connate; ovules 2 per cell, ascending, apotropous. Fruits capsules, broadly ovoid, sericeous, ventrally (fully) and dorsally (in distal 1 / 2) dehiscent, splitting into 5 follicles; hypanthium persistent; sepals persistent, erect; styles persistent. Seeds 2 per follicle. 2 n = 30.

Remark.

This subtribe comprises only one genus, Vauquelinia, with about three species distributed in Mexico and the Southwestern United States.