5327.000 Flacourtia Comm. ex L'Hér.

Spiny shrubs or trees, Leaves 3-veined from the base. Flowers usually unisexual, in short axillary racemes or solitary. Sepals 4-7. Petals 0. Stamens not in bundles, surrounded by a ring of disk glands. Styles 2-8. Fruit a fleshy berry, with seeds in pairs, one above the other.

Derivation of name: Named after Etienne de Flacourt, 1607-1660, director-general of the French East India Company and a former Governor of Madagascar

Worldwide: c. 15 species in tropical and South Africa, extending to Fiji

Malawi: 2 taxa.