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; pinnate; imparipinnate. Leaflets few per leaf; alternate; with petiolules not noticeably twisted. Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers small (tiny); hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the androecium, or in the calyx and in the androecium; in panicles (many-flowered); not distichous. Inflorescences terminal; of cymose units. Bracts absent at anthesis. Bracteoles present; small, not enclosing the flower buds; absent at anthesis. Hypanthium absent. Calyx polysepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; more or less regular, or markedly zygomorphic; 4–5 partite; imbricate. Corolla present; polypetalous; including greatly reduced petals, or without any greatly reduced petals. Petals 5; imbricate; imbricate-ascending. Androecium of fewer than ten parts; members all free of one another; members all more or less equal in length; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 4. Anthers attached at base of connective (shorter than filaments, directed inwards at ninety degrees). Dehiscence via pores or short slits. Ovary sessile or subsessile; free. Ovules few.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit not drupaceous; with prominent, raised veins; with veins other than the longitudinal ones predominating; not winged. Seeds with a straight or slightly oblique radicle.
Transverse section of lamina. Druses absent from the mesophyll. Mesophyll secretory cavities absent. Adaxial hypodermis present. 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 common; scabrid. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Hooked hairs present. Cassieae-type leaf pseudo-glands present. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Basally bent hairs present. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight in optical section; conspicuously pitted; thick. Stomata adaxially very rare. Abaxial stomata predominantly paracytic. Abaxial epidermis not papillate. Abaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight, or gently undulating; conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; medium-thick.
Cytology, geography, etc. 1 species. South and Central America. Amazonian Brazil. Not widely cultivated.
Tribe. Cassieae.
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’.