The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Shrubs (glutinous); without tendrils; unarmed. Without specialized ‘short shoots’. Phyllotaxy spiral. Leaves compound; pinnate; paripinnate; with rachides adaxially ridged. Leaflets many per leaf; opposite or sub-opposite, or alternate. Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous; neither leafy nor spinescent. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers hermaphrodite; pentamerous; coloured; in simple racemes; not distichous. Inflorescences 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 0.25. Calyx polysepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; markedly zygomorphic (lowermost sepal modified); 5 partite; imbricate. Corolla present; slightly zygomorphic; 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 introrse; longitudinal. Ovary stipitate; free. Ovules solitary.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit a two-valved pod (gall-like, with long stiff bristles, 1-seeded). Seeds non-endospermic; with a straight or slightly oblique radicle.
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 absent. Laminae isobilateral, with adaxial and abaxial palisades. 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; smooth. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands present. Hooked hairs not seen. Cassieae-type leaf pseudo-glands not seen. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Basally bent hairs present. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight in optical section; conspicuously pitted; medium-thick. Stomata adaxially common and widespread. Abaxial stomata not predominantly paracytic (actinocytic & imperfect-paracytic). Abaxial epidermis not papillate. Abaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight, or gently undulating; conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; medium-thick.
Wood anatomy. Wood with septate fibres; storied, or not storied. Intervascular pits very small.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum reticulate; finely to moderately regularly reticulate; Chile, Argentina. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance (with a margocolpus).
Cytology, geography, etc. 1 species. 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’.