Celastraceae

▪ plant family

      the staff-tree family, in the order Celastrales, comprising about 55 genera of woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native in tropical and temperate zones but best known for ornamental forms of the genera Euonymus and Celastrus (bittersweet). Fruit of the family is often colourful. Leaves are frequently leathery and flowers are small, with four to five sepals and petals; alternating between the petals, stamens rise from a usually conspicuous nectar disk.

      Khat (Catha edulis) is a slender, straight, East African tree reaching a height of 25 m (80 feet), with large oval, usually opposite, finely toothed leaves. The slightly bitter leaves are chewed for a stimulant they contain.

      Paxistima (or Pachystima), five species of low, often creeping, North American shrubs, includes P. canbyi, with evergreen leaves and small, greenish flowers.

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