PLANT: rees, shrubs, or perennial herbs.

LEAVES: petiolate, glabrous, the apices acute.

INFLORESCENCE: terminal or axillary.

FLOWERS: bracteate; calyx deeply lobed; stamens in ours 8-10(-12), in one cycle; ovary in ours with 8-10 united carpels.

FRUITS: in ours berries.

SEEDS: lens-shaped, black and shiny.

NOTES: 3-4 spp. in the U.S.; ca. 20 spp. in temperate and tropical regions. (Greek phyto = plant + Latin lacca = crimson lake, referring to the fruit color).

REFERENCES: Steinmann, Victor. 2001. Phytolaccaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 33(1).

Fls perfect or unisexual (the pls then dioecious), racemose, with 5 sep, 5-30 stamens, and a ring of 5-15 separate or ±connate carpels; herbs or woody pls. 35, mostly warm regions.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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