The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees; without tendrils; unarmed. Leaves compound; pinnate; paripinnate. Leaflets few per leaf; opposite or sub-opposite; without a continuous marginal nerve; petiolulate.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers showy; hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the corolla and in the androecium, or in the calyx, in the corolla, and in the androecium; in subsessile, capitellate heads, covered by the bracts; not distichous. Inflorescences borne on trunk and branches. Bracts persistent beyond anthesis (tomentellose). Bracteoles absent; absent at anthesis. Calyx gamosepalous; 4–5 partite. Corolla present; polypetalous; including greatly reduced petals, or without any greatly reduced petals. Petals 3–4 (ligulate). Androecium of more than ten parts; with united members; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 12–15. Anthers attached well above base of connective. Ovary stipitate; excentric with adnate stipe.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Seeds with a straight or slightly oblique radicle.
Transverse section of lamina. 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; 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; conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; medium-thick.
Wood anatomy. Intervascular pits very small.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum reticulate; verrucose reticulate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance.
Cytology, geography, etc. 1 species. Brazil. Widely cultivated.
Tribe. Detarieae.
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’.