Antheroporum

Taxonomy

Antheroporum F. Gagnepain Notul. Syst. (Paris) 3: 180. 25 Dec 1915.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.7.
Tribe: Millettieae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1–3 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 6–9 cm long; 3–4 cm wide; 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; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; elliptic to fusiform; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture; widest near middle or D-shaped; inflated; compressed to terete; without beak; short tapered at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit to right-angled with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to 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; nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves twisting. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome to multicolored; mottled; brown; with brown overlay; mottling color combination variable; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs appressed; with 1 type of pubescence; very short sericeous; with pubescence tan; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; stiff; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with recessed features; not veined; not tuberculate; slitted obliquely; not exfoliating; with cracks, or without cracks; cracking oblique to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick; surface not veined; 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; with spongy layer over solid layer; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown; smooth and cracked (usually marginally); without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1(–2); length parallel with fruit length to oblique to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 2–3 mm long; of 1 length only; partially filiform and partially thick; triangular. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril and tongue-aril; entire; tan.

Seed: 15–20 mm long; 13–16 mm wide; 7–10 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; obliquely elliptic, or ovate (obliquely); compressed to 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; glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or mottled; with infrequent mottles; brown, or red; with brown overlay (darker); glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; partially concealed; concealed by aril; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 2–3 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic to circular; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; raised; within halo; halo darker than testa. Lens not discernible. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons not smooth; glandular dotted (yellow latex-like substance inside); 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; split over radicle; with lobes; with lobes touching (auriculate); without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan; inner face flat and glandular dotted (with yellow latex-like substance inside); glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis right angled; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; triangular; lobe tip straight; with 90 degree turn; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Thailand, Indochina, and south China.

Old World; southern China and Indochina.

Generic Notes

The cotyledons bear pits which vary in size and distribution, And are the same color as the nonpitted surface. But, when hydrated the pits swell and are filled with a yellow, latex-like substance.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Millettieae

Geesink (1981) treated this tribe, as others before him, under the tribal name Tephroseae, but we now know that its correct name is Millettieae. Recent tribal studies (Geesink, 1981, 1984; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b) have arranged the genera in alphabetical order without phylogenetic numbers. Geesink (1984) monographed tribe Millettieae, and presented descriptive notes about fruits and seeds and in situ fruit and seed drawings. However, we are not entirely following Geesink (1984) for generic parameters because he either questioned the status of many of his new genera or did not make the necessary species transfers. The few new genera which he clearly recognized are being accepted. Lavin et al. (1998) developed a preliminary infratribal classification of six informal groups using phytochrome nucleotides: Millettia group, Lonchocarpus group, Derris group, Tephrosia group, "primitive" group, and Phaseoleae group. Lavin (1987) transferred Sphinctospermum to Millettieae. Lavin and Doyle (1991) carried out cladistic analyses integrating morphological and chloroplast DNA data, and concluded that it is a member of Robineae where we have placed it (now 8.12).