Ammopiptanthus 

Taxonomy

Ammopiptanthus S.F. Cheng Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow et Leningrad) 44: 1381. 1959.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.29.01.
Tribe: Thermopsideae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 4–8 cm long; 1.5–2 cm wide; 0.1–0.25 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, or curved (slightly); not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; oblong; with both sutures nearly straight; not inflated; flattened; without beak, or with beak; straight, or declined; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous; seed chambers externally visible; margin not constricted, or constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 5–8 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; tan; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; quite thin; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 2–5; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril absent (but indurate funiculus present).

Seed: 5–8 mm long; 5–7 mm wide; 1.5–1.6 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; reniform (rounded); compressed; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes; 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; modified by a bloom; colored; mottled to streaked, or monochrome; with frequent mottles; with frequent streaks; brown, or tan (greenish), or yellow; with black overlay; glabrous; smooth; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible; from hilum through lens and terminating before base of seed; not bifurcating; darker than testa; black; slightly raised. Hilum present; partially concealed, or fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant, or funiculus, or wing; with faboid split, or without faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 0.6 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; between cotyledon and radicle lobe; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.5 mm long; with margins curved; circular; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.5 mm from hilum; barely mounded; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; brown; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; 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; notched at radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; yellow; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis deflexed; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear; lobe tip curved; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon width; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Russia to Mongolia (Inner and Outer) and China.

Old World; Russia to China (Inner and Outer Mongolia).

Generic Notes

Cheng (1959) monographed the genus and illustrated the fruits and seeds of both species. Turner (1981) noted "one or possibly two species," and Yong-Ming and Ze-Xiang (1990) recognized two species, the number that we used.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Thermopsideae

Yong-Ming and Ze-Xiang (1990) reevaluated the six genera and forty-seven species in the tribe, and their data confirms Turner (1981). Turner recognized forty-six species and six genera in the tribe.