sarcocephalus

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of gamopetalous plants of the order Rubiaceæ and tribe Naucleeæ, type of subtribe Sarcocephaleæ. It is characterized by a somewhat funnel-shaped corolla with five or six rounded lobes above, and below a very smooth throat bearing five or six stamens, and by a two-celled ovary with numerous ovules imbricated over placentæ which are pendulous from the summit of each cell. There are about 8 species, natives of the tropics in Asia, Africa, and Australia. They are shrubs and trees, or sometimes climbers, with opposite rigid leaves, conspicuous triangular or obovate stipules between the petioles, and white or yellow terminal and axillary or sometimes panicled flower-heads. The fruit is a fleshy syncarp containing thin membranous partitions, with a few minute seeds in each carpel. (For S. esculentus, also known as country-fig, see Guinea peach, under peach.) Several species produce a medicinal bark. See African cinchona (under cinchona) and doundaké bark (under bark).

WordNet 3.0

1. n. genus of tropical African trees and shrubs