Peltophorum

Taxonomy

Peltophorum (J.R.T Vogel) G. Bentham Nom. cons. J. Bot. (Hooker) 2: 75. Mar 1840.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.1.15.
Tribe: Caesalpinieae.
Group: Peltophorum.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 7 studied; 5–7 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 4–15 cm long; 1.5–43 cm wide; 0.2–0.4 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; curved; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; elliptic to oblong; not inflated; flattened; without beak; long tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous, or ligneous; seed chambers externally visible; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 1; wing(s) 0.1–6 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture; substipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; occasionally multicolored, or monochrome; mottled; tannish to dark reddish brown; with occasionally black overlay; with surface texture uniform; glabrate to pubescent and indurate (golden or silvery); with hairs erect; with simple hairs; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; longitudinally veined relative to fruit length; not tuberculate; striate (longitudinally), or pusticulate; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; with fibers transverse reticulate over spongy tissue; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull to glossy; opaque; monochrome; brown; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–8; length parallel with fruit length to transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–12 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight, or curved. Aril absent.

Seed: 9–12 mm long; 3.5–11 mm wide; 1–3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; circular to oblong; 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; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; brown; glabrous; smooth; osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines present; concentric. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible, or not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; punctiform; apical at apex of radicle tip to subapical to radicle tip; recessed; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.6 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; linear; elliptic, or circular; not in groove of raphe; mounded; dissimilar color from testa; tan; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present, or absent; thick; 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; with lobes touching (auriculate), or not touching; without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight to deflexed; parallel to length of seed to oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed to well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

West Indies, Brazil to northern Argentina, southern tropical Africa, tropical Asia (but not India) to Australia.

New World and Old World; West Indies and South America (Brazil to northern Argentina); Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador; southern tropical Africa, China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, and Australia (tropical, but not India).

Generic Notes

Barneby (1996) reviewed the American members of this genus, and concluded that there is but a single species, P. dubium (C.P.J. Sprengel) P.H.W. Taubert, with three varieties: P. dubium var. adnatum (A.H.R. Grisebach) R.C. Barneby, P. dubium var. berteroanum (I. Urban) R.C. Barneby, and P. dubium var. dubium.