2136.000 Ximenia L.

Root-parasitic shrubs or small trees, usually with axillary spines. Leaves obtuse or mucronulate. Flowers axillary. Calyx 4(-5)-lobed, not accrescent. Petals 4(-5), linear-oblong, later recurved, densely bearded within, ± glabrous outside. Stamens 8 (in ours); staminodes 0. Fruit a drupe with a large stone.

Derivation of name: after Francisco Ximenez, a Spanish monk who wrote about the plants of Mexico in the 17th century

Worldwide: 8 species in the tropics.

Malawi: 2 taxa.