The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs; without tendrils; unarmed. Phyllotaxy spiral. Leaves compound; pinnate; paripinnate; with adaxially grooved rachides (finely so). Leaflets with petiolules not noticeably twisted. Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous; neither leafy nor spinescent. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers small; hermaphrodite; pentamerous; coloured; in simple racemes (lax); not distichous. Inflorescences axillary and terminal; of racemose units. Bracts absent at anthesis. Bracteoles absent; absent at anthesis. Hypanthium present. Length of floral tube relative to total hypanthium plus calyx length, about 0.5. Calyx polysepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; more or less regular; 5 partite; imbricate; not Swartzieae type. Corolla present; actinomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals yellow; 5; imbricate; imbricate-ascending. Androecium of ten parts; members all free of one another; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 10. Anthers attached well above base of connective. Dehiscence lateral. Ovary stipitate; free. Stigma not peltate (the style filiform). Ovules few.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit a two-valved pod; not becoming woody; not winged. Seeds non-endospermic (winged unilaterally or all round); with a straight or slightly oblique radicle.
Transverse section of lamina. Druses absent from the mesophyll. Mesophyll secretory cavities (gland-dots) common; without a lining of epithelium. 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 common; scabrid, or smooth. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Hooked hairs not seen. Cassieae-type leaf pseudo-glands not seen. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight in optical section; conspicuously pitted; thin. 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-thin.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum reticulate (pollen tetrads); finely to moderately regularly reticulate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance (without a margocolpus). Foot layer of pollen wall smooth, or with obvious projections.
Cytology, geography, etc. 3 species. Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay. Not widely cultivated.
Tribe. Caesalpinieae.
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’.