Sabiaceae

Sabiaceae, plant family (order Proteales) with 4 genera and about 120 species of evergreen trees or lianas native to tropical America and Southeast Asia. Members of Sabiaceae have small flowers with the stamens opposite the petals or sepals and somewhat flattened and curved fleshy fruits. The leaves or leaflets bear characteristic looping venation.

The South American Ophiocaryon paradoxum has a coiled embryo and is known as the snake nut. Meliosma, with about 80 species, has two anthers that open explosively after being held under tension by two or three complex staminodes (sterile stamens). Sabia, with some 30 species, and the small genus Kingsboroghia are the other two genera of the family.