The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees (3–7 m); without tendrils; unarmed. Leaves compound; pinnate; imparipinnate. Leaflets few per leaf (2-jugate); opposite or sub-opposite; petiolulate; with petiolules not noticeably twisted. Stipules neither leafy nor spinescent (minute, about 4 mm long); not connate. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the calyx, in the corolla, and in the androecium; coloured; not distichous. Inflorescences on previous season’s branchlets; of racemose units. Bracts persistent beyond anthesis (about 4 mm long). Bracteoles absent; absent at anthesis. Hypanthium absent. Calyx polysepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; more or less regular; 4 partite (‘opening in about 4 more or less equal segments’); not imbricate; Swartzieae type (closed before flowering, splitting more or less irregularly into valvate lobes or teeth). Corolla present; very zygomorphic; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals yellow; 1. Clawed petals present. Disk absent. Androecium of more than ten parts (numerous); members all free of one another (glabrous); members all more or less equal in length; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 26 (or more: numerous). Anthers attached at base of connective (linear- lanceolate, longer than the filaments). Dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary stipitate; free. Stigma not peltate (truncate, the style apex abruptly hooked or curved). Ovules numerous.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit without prominent raised veins; not winged. Seeds with an inflexed radicle.
Wood anatomy. Wood storied; without normal intercellular canals; without traumatic canals.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum striate; interwoven striate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance.
Cytology, geography, etc. 1 species. South America. Not 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’.