The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees; without tendrils; unarmed. Leaves compound; bipinnate; with opposite or sub-opposite pinnae, or with alternate pinnae (rare); with alternate leaflets. Leaflets few per leaf; petiolulate. Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous; neither leafy nor spinescent. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers small (malodorous); hermaphrodite; pentamerous; coloured; in simple racemes (elongated, spiciform). Inflorescences of racemose units. Bracts absent at anthesis. Bracteoles absent; absent at anthesis. Hypanthium present (cupular). Calyx polysepalous; not covering the rest of the flower in bud; 5 partite (shortly ciliolate); imbricate. Corolla present; slightly zygomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals red; 5 (oblong to obovate); imbricate; imbricate-ascending. Androecium of ten parts; members all free of one another; members all more or less equal in length; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 10. Anthers attached at base of connective (their bases scarcely sagittate). Dehiscence introrse. Ovary stipitate. Ovules numerous.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit indehiscent; becoming distinctly woody; compressed, oblong; internally septate; with prominent, raised veins (4 strong ribs reinforcing the angles); not winged; without markedly twisting or enrolling valves. Seeds endospermic; not arillate; with a straight or slightly oblique radicle; amyloid-negative. Cotyledons epigeal.
Transverse section of lamina. Leaves without conspicuous phloem transfer cells in the minor veins. Druses absent from the mesophyll. Mesophyll secretory cavities absent. Adaxial hypodermis present. 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 not seen. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls conspicuously pitted; thick. 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, or not conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; thick.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum punctate; smooth punctate, or puncticulate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance (no margocolpus).
Cytology, geography, etc. 1 species. Africa. West Africa. 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: 22nd March 2009. http://delta-intkey.com’.