Sour Plum Family

Trees or shrubs, sometimes armed. Stipules 0. Leaves alternate, simple, entire; midrib impressed above, prominent below (in ours). Flowers actinomorphic, unisexual or bisexual. Calyx cup-shaped, margin entire or lobed. Petals 3-5(-6), free or united, valvate. Stamens as many as or more numerous than the petals; all fertile or some sterile (i.e. staminodes may be present). Ovary superior or semi-inferior, usually 3-5-locular at base. Stigma lobed or capitate. Fruit a 1-seeded drupe (in ours).

Erythropalaceae Planch. ex Miq. is a family of flowering plants. The family has been recognized by few taxonomists, the plants often being included in family Olacaceae.

The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), does not recognize this family.

Hog Plum (Ximenia americana)