Author: Miquel
Morphological description
Trees . Stipules foliaceous, free, rarely connate at the lower half.
Leaves alternate, paripinnate, 2-10-jugate (bruggem Sindora lf/pods 255221 ). Leaflets opposite, coriaceous, often with scattered pellucid dots, shortly petiolulate; midrib usually slightly grooved above, prominent below, often ending in a ± developed, terminal gland; nerves many, usually more than 20 per side, obscure or faint above, visible or distinct beneath, leaving the midrib at an angle of about 60ª or more and forming a thickened nerve close to the margin; veins finely, very closely reticulate (by examining, e. g. with a hand-lens) on both surfaces.
Inflorescences solitary or gregarious, paniculate or racemose; bracts and bracteoles small, often caducous or sometimes present at anthesis.
Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, shortly pedicelled or subsessile. Hypanthium very short. Calyx lobes 4, narrowly imbricate, outer surface often with spiny outgrowths. Petals 1, usually fleshy, rudimentary ones often wanting. Stamens 10 (9 + 1), uppermost one free and reduced to a short staminode, the remaining 9 shortly and obliquely united at base and sheath-like, the united part often hairy on both surfaces; 2 upper ones fertile with elongate filaments and ovoid or oblong, longitudinally dehiscing, dorsifixed anthers; 7 lower ones with shorter filaments and with or without small, imperfect anthers . Ovary with a short, free stipe, 2-5(or more)-ovuled; style filiform, often recurvate; stigma small.
Pods flat, rounded ovate or elliptic, often spiny, rarely unarmed, dehiscent, woody, 2-valved.
Seeds few, black, shining, with a large fleshy aril at the base; cotyledons split; endosperm absent.
Distribution
A genus of 18-20 species, distributed in W Africa (Gabon, 1 sp.) and SE Asia; 15 of them in Malesia (Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo, W Java, Philippines, Celebes, and ? Moluccas) Sindora distr BBGBuitenz18-1 .
Habitat
In lowland forests, favouring dry areas, sometimes occurring near the banks of brooks or small rivers, often scattered, growing singly or in small groups, up to 150 m, sometimes to 350 m, very rarely at higher altitudes.
Uses
Plants of some species produce strong and durable wood of excellent quality, resin or wood-oil, medicine, tannin, etc. See Burkill (1935: 2031-2034); Heyne (1950: 727-730); and Sambas et al. (1993: 434-442).
Note
The present treatment is mainly based on the comprehensive revision of this genus published by de Wit (1949: 5-82).