HIPPOCRATEACEAE

family of woody vines, shrubs, and trees, belonging to the order Celastrales, comprising 21 genera common in the tropics. They have simple leaves and small, greenish flowers. The genus Hippocratea has 80 or more species, including H. ovata, a high-climbing vine-in tropical America and the West Indies-with leathery, oval leaves. Salacia, with 200 species, differs from Hippocratea in that it lacks wings on its fruit. Fruits of the Mexican and Central American vine H. celastroides are mashed and used locally to kill lice.