The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Habit and leaf form. Trees; without tendrils; unarmed. Phyllotaxy spiral. Leaves compound; pinnate; imparipinnate. Leaflets many per leaf, or few per leaf; alternate; with petiolules not noticeably twisted. Stipules absent or early caducous or very inconspicuous. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the corolla and in the androecium; white or green; in panicles. Inflorescences terminal; of cymose units. Bracts absent at anthesis. Bracteoles present; absent at anthesis. Hypanthium absent. Calyx polysepalous; covering the rest of the flower in bud; more or less regular; 5 partite; imbricate. Corolla present; very zygomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals white; 3; imbricate; imbricate-descending (papilionaceous) with the posterior petal (vexillum) outside, or vexillum exterior or contorted. Clawed petals present. Disk absent. Androecium of fewer than ten parts; members all free of one another; members markedly unequal; without staminodia. Fertile stamens 2. Anthers attached at base of connective. Dehiscence via pores or short slits (and with distal adventitious septa). Ovary sessile or subsessile; free. Stigma not peltate (the style filiform, inflexed). Ovules few.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit indehiscent; not becoming woody; not drupaceous; conspicuously winged, or not winged. Seeds endospermic; with a straight or slightly oblique radicle; amyloid-negative.
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 present. 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. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Hooked hairs present. Cassieae-type leaf pseudo-glands present. Expanded and embedded hair-feet absent. Basally bent hairs present. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight in optical section; not conspicuously pitted; thin. Stomata adaxially very rare. Abaxial epidermis papillate interveinally; with papillae over-arching the stomata. Abaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls straight, or gently undulating; conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; thin.
Wood anatomy. Wood without septate fibres; storied; without normal intercellular canals; without traumatic canals. Intervascular pits medium to large.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum punctate; smooth punctate, or puncticulate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance.
Cytology, geography, etc. 2 species. South and Central America. Tropical South America. 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: 22nd March 2009. http://delta-intkey.com’.