in botany: A genus of the monoeia order, belonging to the polygamia class of plants. The calyx of the hermaphrodite is quinquefied; there is no corolla; there are five antherae covered with an elastic calyptra or hood; the style trifid; the fruit, inferior to the receptacle of the flower, divisible into three seeds. The male is like the hermaphrodite, but wanting stigma and germen.