8399.000 Psychotria L.

Subshrubs, shrubs or trees. Stipules entire or fimbriate. Leaves opposite, petiolate, either with domatia or with black nodules scattered throughout the leaf lamina. Flowers 4-5-merous, bisexual, heterostylous, arranged in terminal paniculate or umbellate inflorescences. Calyx minutely lobed. Corolla tube usually shortly cylindric; lobes valvate. Ovary 2-(3-4)-locular. Fruit a drupe, with 1-2 pyrenes, these not markedly dehiscent. Seeds usually with a dark (reddish-brown) testa; endosperm usually strongly ruminate.

Derivation of name: vivifying, from Greek: psyche, meaning life, referring to the healing properties of some species.

Worldwide: 800 - 1500 species in the tropics.

Botswana: 1 taxon.