STERCULIACEAE

the cacao, or chocolate, family of plants, in the order Malvales, consisting of about 12 genera of tropical or subtropical trees, shrubs, and herbs. The leaves of Sterculiaceae are alternate and simple or palmately compound (i.e., divided into leaflets that radiate from a common point, fingerlike). The flowers, often unisexual, are solitary or clustered and have three to five sepals and five or no petals. The usually numerous stamens (male, pollen-producing structures) are separate or joined into a column, and the ovary is superior (positioned above the attachment point of the other flower parts) and has two to five cavities or separate parts. The fruit is fleshy or dry and is generally a capsule. Important plants of the family include cacao (Theobroma cacao), source of cocoa and chocolate; cola (Cola nitida and C. acuminata), which yields the flavouring and stimulant used in cola drinks; and a few Sterculia species (especially Sterculia urens), which yield karaya gum, an important substitute for gum tragacanth. Species of a few genera are cultivated as ornamentals, notably the bottle tree (Brachychiton), dombeya (Dombeya), Chinese parasol tree (Firmiana), flannelbush (Fremontodendron), and sterculia (Sterculia). In geologic times the family was distributed far beyond the limits of the present tropics and subtropicse.g., into Alaska.