The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Climbers or scramblers (forming bush ropes); without tendrils; unarmed. Phyllotaxy spiral. Leaves compound; pinnate; imparipinnate. Leaflets few per leaf; opposite or sub-opposite; petiolulate; with petiolules not noticeably twisted. Stipules present, persistent and conspicuous; not connate. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the calyx, or in the calyx and in the androecium; coloured; in panicles; not distichous. Inflorescences terminal; of racemose units. Bracteoles present; small, not enclosing the flower buds (pedicels articulated above them); absent at anthesis; not valvate. Calyx polysepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; markedly zygomorphic; 4 partite (one large member, opposite vexillum); imbricate; not Swartzieae type. Corolla present; very zygomorphic; polypetalous; including greatly reduced petals (two, staminodal, with glandular margins), or without any greatly reduced petals (if these misinterpreted as staminodes). Petals red (striped); 5; imbricate-descending (papilionaceous) with the posterior petal (vexillum) outside. Androecium of fewer than ten parts; with united members (synandrium); members all more or less equal in length; with staminodia (really petals), or without staminodia. Fertile stamens 4–5. Anthers attached at base of connective. Ovary stipitate. Ovules few, or numerous.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit a two-valved pod; not becoming woody; conspicuously winged (with four lengthwise wings); valves twisting and enrolling during dehiscence. Seeds with a straight or slightly oblique radicle; amyloid-negative; with starch.
Transverse section of lamina. Leaves without conspicuous phloem transfer cells in the minor veins. Druses common in 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 common. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Hooked hairs not seen. Cassieae-type leaf pseudo-glands present. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; thin. 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; scarcely staining with safranin; of medium thickness.
Pollen ultrastructure. Length of colpi inapplicable — pollen diporate, unique in legumes.
Cytology, geography, etc. 1 species. Tropical West Africa. 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’.