The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
| The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees; without tendrils; unarmed. Phyllotaxy distichous, or spiral (rare). Leaves compound; pinnate; paripinnate. Leaflets many per leaf, or few per leaf (small); markedly asymmetrical at the base; opposite or sub-opposite; without a continuous marginal nerve; sessile to sub-sessile. Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous, or present, persistent and conspicuous; connate, or not connate. Stipels present, or absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers showy; hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the calyx and in the androecium; coloured; not distichous. Inflorescences terminal (densely racemose or capitate). Bracts absent at anthesis (large, broad, leathery, deciduous). Bracteoles present (coloured, leathery); relatively large and enclosing the flower buds; persistent beyond anthesis; not valvate; connate (at base). Hypanthium present (funnel- or cup-shaped). Length of floral tube relative to total hypanthium plus calyx length, about 0.5, or 0.75 (rare). Calyx covering the rest of the flower in bud, or not covering the rest of the flower in bud (rare); more or less regular, or markedly zygomorphic; 4 partite (petaloid); imbricate. Corolla present; actinomorphic, or slightly zygomorphic, or very zygomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals red; 5; imbricate; imbricate-ascending. Clawed petals absent. Androecium of fewer than ten parts (9); with united members (forming a short tube, open adaxially); members all more or less equal in length, or members markedly unequal; with staminodia. Fertile stamens 3. Anthers attached well above base of connective. Dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary stipitate; excentric with adnate stipe (the style filiform). Ovules numerous.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit a two-valved pod; becoming distinctly woody; curved; conspicuously winged (adaxially), or not winged. Seeds non-endospermic; with a straight or slightly oblique radicle; amyloid-positive.
Transverse section of lamina. Leaves with conspicuous phloem transfer cells in the minor veins. Druses absent from the mesophyll. Mesophyll secretory cavities absent. Adaxial hypodermis absent. Leaf girders absent. 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, or not seen; scabrid. 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 present, or absent; all medium to thick-walled; hair feet all simple, without vertical walls. Basally bent hairs absent. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; not conspicuously pitted. Stomata adaxially very rare. Abaxial stomata predominantly paracytic. Abaxial epidermis not papillate. Abaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; not conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin.
Wood anatomy. Wood not storied. Intervascular pits very small.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum reticulate; verrucose reticulate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance.
Cytology, geography, etc. 10 species. South and Central America. Tropical South America. Not 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’.