Moullava

Taxonomy

Moullava M. Adanson Fam. 2: 318. Jul-Aug 1763.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.1.27.
Tribe: Caesalpinieae.
Group: Caesalpinia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 3–8 cm long; 1.7–2 cm wide; 0.8–1 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; compressed; without beak; long tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally visible; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin constricted along both margins, or constricted only on 1 margin; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; rugose; not exfoliating; without cracks; 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 and glossy; opaque; bichrome; white and tan (dull white fibrous strips along upper and and lower sutures and glossy and tan along margins); fibrous; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–7; length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 1 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 12–15 mm long; 9–12 mm wide; 9–12 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; ovate; terete; 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; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; dark reddish brown; glabrous; smooth; osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines present; concentric (best seen along base of seed). Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible (along base of seed). Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; punctiform; apical at apex of radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.1–0.4 mm long; with margins curved; elliptic; not in groove of raphe; mounded; dissimilar color from testa; tan; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; trace; 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; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Generic Notes

The fruit is unique in the Caesalpinioideae: The fibrous endocarp strips and smooth margin tissue, the nonpendant funiculus, and the ball and socket effect of the seed and fruit. An elliptical area around the funiculus has no endocarp fibers, permitting the ovule to remain attached to the funiculus until maturation. The 1.5 mm thick testa is one of the thickest in the subfamily. These fruit characters support segregating Moullava from Caesalpinia (1.25). Moullava seeds share an unusual character with seeds of Gymnocladus (1.01). The apex of the radicle is broad and blunt because the cotyledons join the embryonic axis at the apex of the radicle. In other studies of caesalpinioid seeds, the cotyledons join the embryonic axis at the mesocotyl. Nicolson (1980) noted that Moullava M. Adanson is congeneric with Wagatea Dalzell. Therefore the genus name should be Moullava M. Adanson and the scientific name, M. spicata (Dalzell) Nicolson.