Dictamnus L.

Herbs, perennial, woody. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate; leaflets usually opposite, occasionally alternate, margins serrulate. Inflorescences terminal, racemose. Flowers large, showy, zygomorphic, bracteate and bracteolate. Sepals 5, caducous or persistent. Petals 5, variously coloured, upper 4 ascending, lowest one declinate. Stamens 10, free; filaments slender, filiform; anthers suborbicular or oblong. Disk annular, lobed. Ovary stipitate, 5-carpellate, 5-lobed, 5-locular; style declinate; stigma simple. Fruits capsular, compressed, 5-lobed, hispid, each lobe bivalved with horny adherent endocarp, 2 - 3-seeded; seeds subglobose, black, shiny.

Temperate regions of the Old World, from N.W. Himalayas east to Japan and westward to C. Asia and S.C. Europe; ca 6 species, one in India.

List of Lower Taxa