The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees; without tendrils; unarmed. Phyllotaxy spiral. Leaves compound, or simple (the upper ones); pinnate; imparipinnate. Leaflets opposite or sub-opposite; with petiolules not noticeably twisted. Stipules present, persistent and conspicuous; neither leafy nor spinescent. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers showy; hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the androecium, or in the calyx and in the androecium; white or green; in simple racemes, or in panicles; not distichous. Inflorescences axillary (racemes), or terminal (panicles). Bracts absent at anthesis. Bracteoles absent; absent at anthesis, or persistent beyond anthesis. Hypanthium present. Calyx gamosepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; more or less regular, or markedly zygomorphic; 2–5 partite; not imbricate; Swartzieae type (closed before flowering, splitting more or less irregularly into valvate lobes or teeth). Corolla present; very zygomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals white; 5; imbricate; imbricate-descending (papilionaceous) with the posterior petal (vexillum) outside. Androecium of more than ten parts; members all free of one another; members all more or less equal in length; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 26 (or more: numerous). Anthers attached well above base of connective. Dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary stipitate; free. Ovules few.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit becoming distinctly woody; not winged; without markedly twisting or enrolling valves. Seeds with an inflexed radicle.
Transverse section of lamina. Leaves without conspicuous phloem transfer cells in the minor veins. Druses absent from the mesophyll. Mesophyll secretory cavities absent. Adaxial hypodermis absent. Leaf girders common (the veins transcurrent). Laminae dorsiventral. Mesophyll without unaligned fibres or sclereids. Minor veins mainly with abundant accompanying fibres.
Leaf lamina epidermes. Epidermal crystals not seen either adaxially or abaxially. Simple unbranched hairs not seen. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; not conspicuously pitted; medium-thick. Stomata adaxially very rare. Abaxial stomata predominantly paracytic. Abaxial epidermis not papillate. Abaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; not conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; thick.
Wood anatomy. Wood storied. Intervascular pits medium to large.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum punctate, or reticulate; smooth punctate, or puncticulate; rugulose reticulate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance.
Cytology, geography, etc. 15 species. Tropical South America. Widely cultivated.
Tribe. Swartzieae (Papilionoideae).
The interactive key provides access to the character list, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, and summaries of attributes within groups of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1993 onwards. The genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae: descriptions, identification, and information retrieval. In English and French; French translation by E. Chenin. Version: 19th October 2005. http://delta-intkey.com’.