Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.4.31.
Tribe: Detarieae.
Group: Crudia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.
Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; 9–13 cm long; 5.5–7 cm wide; 1.3–2.5 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with deciduous calyx; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; C-shaped, or harp-shaped to reniform (stated as obovate to circular); with nearly both sutures unequally curved, or both sutures parallelly curved, or 1 straight and 1 curved suture; widest near middle or D-shaped; not inflated; compressed; without beak; tapered at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dirty brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; longitudinally veined relative to fruit length; not tuberculate; checking and 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; with fibers; without reniform canals; longitudinal fibrous throughout and mealy; 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) 1; length parallel with fruit length. Funiculus 0.1–0.4 mm long ("less than 0.5 mm"); of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril absent.
Seed: 55–65 mm long; 55 mm wide; 15 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; circular; compressed; 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; usually absent or nearly so. Testa when present: dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; brown; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; rugose and shagreen; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 0.1–2 mm long; with curved outline; circular; apical at apex of radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; both more or less of equal length; not folded; 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 glabrous.
Jamaica, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia.
New World; West Indies, Central America, and South America (Jamaica, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia).
Tribe Detarieae
Bruneau et al. (2000) carried out extensive phylogenetic analyses of tribes Amherstieae and Detarieae. They concluded that they form a single monophyletic group. Therefore, they supported Polhill's (1995a, 1995b) decision to unite the two tribes.