Triplaris
(from triplex, triple; the parts of the fructification are disposed in threes). SYN. Velasquezia. ORD. Polygonaceae. A genus comprising not more than ten distinct species of stove trees, broadly dispersed over tropical South America. Flowers dioecious, sessile or nearly so within the bracts, disposed in long, softly or silky-pilose, simple or often branched spikes; perianth six-cleft, the male funnel-shaped, the female narrow. Nut prominently and rather acutely trigonal. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, often ample, ovate, oblong, or lanceolate. T. americana has been introduced, but it is a doubtful species, and is probably lost to cultivation.