Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.1.18.
Tribe: Caesalpinieae.
Group: Peltophorum.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 3 studied; 6 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 7–20 cm long; 1.8–2.5 cm wide; 0.2–4 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with deciduous calyx; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight to curved; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; oblong; not inflated; flattened; without beak; long tapered at apex to tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base to rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible, or visible; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate to nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along 1 suture; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown, or black (reddish); with surface texture uniform; golden to reddish pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with simple hairs; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; not veined; not tuberculate; not exfoliating; with cracks; cracking longitudinal to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 3–11; length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–0.7 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; straight. Aril absent.
Seed: 12–15 mm long; 9–11 mm wide; 1 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; ovate; flattened; with surface smooth; without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without hilar sinus; without umbo on seed faces; without medial ridge on each face. Cuticle not exfoliating; not inflated; not wrinkled. Testa present; without pieces of adhering epicarp; not adhering to endocarp; free from endocarp; glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; brown; glabrous; smooth; osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 0.1–1.5 mm long; with curved outline, or straight outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. Endosperm present; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; adnate to testa. Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; both more or less of equal length; not folded; margin entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; similar at apex; partially concealing radicle; with lobes (1 side auriculate because of slight radicle inflection); with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; slightly oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.
The genus is usually spelled Moldenhauera, but Polhill and Vidal (1981) observed "perhaps more correctly spelt Moldenhawera." Yakovlev (1975) spelled the genus Moldenhawera in his monograph.