The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae
The Genera of Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae and Swartzieae | |
Including Toubaouate Aubrév. and Pellegr.
Habit and leaf form. Trees; without tendrils; unarmed. Phyllotaxy spiral. Leaves compound, or simple (rare); pinnate, or rare; paripinnate. Venation neither palmate nor parallel nor fan-like. Leaflets many per leaf, or few per leaf; markedly asymmetrical at the base, or symmetrical or nearly so at their bases; opposite or sub-opposite; without a continuous marginal nerve; sessile to sub-sessile. Stipules present, persistent and conspicuous; connate. Stipels absent.
Inflorescence and floral morphology. Flowers hermaphrodite; not pentamerous throughout; departing from pentamery in the calyx, or in the corolla, or in the androecium (in combinations); coloured; in panicles (few flowered); not distichous. Inflorescences terminal; of racemose units. Bracts absent at anthesis. Bracteoles present; relatively large and enclosing the flower buds; persistent beyond anthesis; valvate. Hypanthium present (cupular). Calyx polysepalous; not covering the rest of the flower in bud; 4–6 partite (minute); not imbricate. Corolla present; slightly zygomorphic; polypetalous; without any greatly reduced petals. Petals 1–4 (rare), or 5 (small, subulate). Disk present and conspicuous. Androecium of fewer than ten parts, or of ten parts; members all free of one another; members markedly unequal; with staminodia. Fertile stamens 4–6. Anthers attached well above base of connective. Dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary sessile or subsessile; free. Ovules few, or numerous.
Fruit, seed and seedling. Fruit a two-valved pod; becoming distinctly woody; straight; with prominent, raised veins; with the prominent veins predominantly longitudinal; not winged; valves twisting and enrolling during dehiscence. Seeds not arillate; with a straight or slightly oblique radicle. Cotyledons epigeal.
Transverse section of lamina. Leaves with conspicuous phloem transfer cells in the minor veins. Druses common in the mesophyll, or 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. No compound or branched eglandular hairs seen. Capitate glands not seen. Hooked hairs not seen. Cassieae-type leaf pseudo-glands not seen. Adaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; not conspicuously pitted; thick. Stomata adaxially very rare. Abaxial stomata predominantly paracytic. Abaxial epidermis papillate interveinally; with papillae over-arching the stomata. Abaxial interveinal epidermal cell walls markedly sinuous in high-focus optical section; not conspicuously pitted in optical section; staining normally with safranin; medium-thick.
Wood anatomy. Wood not storied.
Pollen ultrastructure. Tectum striate; pole to pole striate. Length of colpi greater than one half pole to pole distance.
Cytology, geography, etc. 9 species. Tropical Africa. Not widely cultivated.
Tribe. Detarieae (Amherstieae of Cowan and Polhill 1981).
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’.