in botany; a genus of plants of the polyantria monogynia clas, described by Pluimier and Linnæus. The empalement is divided into five segments; the flower consists of five petals; the stamens are numerous filaments, slender, and as long as the flower; the anthers are small, and so is the germen of the pistil; the style is subulate, and of the length of the stamens; the stigma is simple; the fruit is a large globose berry, of a striated or sulcated surface, containing only one cell, in which is a very large, smooth, and globose seed. There is only one species.