Aphanocaylx

Taxonomy

Aphanocalyx D. Oliver Hooker's Icon. Pl. t. 1066. Feb 1870.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.4.79.
Tribe: Detarieae.
Group: Brachystegia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 5 studied; 14 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; (1.2–)3–10(–19) cm long; (0.8–)1.6–4(–5.5) cm wide; 0.1–0.6(–0.9) 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; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; obovate to oblong to elliptic, or rhombic, or reniform (rarely); with 1 straight and 1 curved suture, or both sutures unequally curved; widest near apex, or widest near middle or D-shaped; not inflated; compressed, or flattened; without beak, or with beak; straight (0.5–4.5 mm long); with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; short tapered at apex to tapered at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit, or aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base, or tapered at base; right angled with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous to coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished, or plain; margin with wing(s), or thickened sutural areas (1.5–3.5(-7) mm wide, ventral margin thicker than dorsal one); wing(s) present, or absent; wing(s) 2; wing(s) 1.5–10 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture (on upper (dorsal or ventral) suture); stipitate to substipitate; with the stipe 1–8(–16) mm long (up tp 16 mm in Aphanocalyx heitzii (Pellegr.) Wieringa); with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves separately enrolling. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull to glossy; monochrome; reddish brown to blackish to dark brown to brown to gray; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate, or glabrous, or glabrate; with hairs erect; with 2 types of pubescence, or 1 type of pubescence; velutinous (with a few long hairs), or pilose (sparsely), or villous (sparsely, with very long hairs), or velutinous (densely); with pubescence brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features, or recessed features; veined; longitudinally veined relative to fruit length (0–50% down from the upper suture and rarely fused to the upper suture partially or over its entirety), or longitudinally veined relative to fruit length and irregularly veined (rarely); not tuberculate; granulate, or wrinkled; pitted (diagonally arranged in Aphanocalyx hedinii (A. Chev.) Wieringa); not exfoliating; without cracks, or with cracks (sometimes); cracking oblique to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thin; surface not veined; 2-layered, or 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers, or with fibers; without reniform canals; solid; with fibers oblique scattered reticulate embedded in mealy tissue over solid layer; with solid layer over solid layer; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; bichrome (darker under the seeds); brown to tan; spongy, or smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–3(–6) (up to 6 in Aphanocalyx heitzii (Pellegr.) Wieringa); length transverse to fruit length to oblique to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–2 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: (7.5–)9–21(–24) mm long (up to 24 mm long in Aphanocalyx heitzii (Pellegr.) Wieringa [Wieringa 1999]); (5–)7–18 mm wide; 1–4.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; ovate to obovate, or elliptic; compressed to flattened; with surface smooth; without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without hilar sinus to with shallow 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 to slightly glossy to dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or bichrome (rarely, darker along the edge); dark brown; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; rugose, or wrinkled; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 1–1.2 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; flush to recessed; 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; margin entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; similar at apex; completely concealing radicle; notched at radicle; with lobes; with lobes not touching to touching (auriculate); without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; brown to tan; inner face flat; pubescent on inner face; pubescent below plumule. Embryonic axis straight; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear to bulbose; lobe tip straight; straight with embryonic axis; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Rain forests of western and central Africa and extending as far south andf east as north Zambia and central Angola (Wieringa 1999Wieringa 1999:
Wieringa JJ. 1999. Monopetalanthus exit: A systematic study of Aphanocalyx, Bikinia, Icuria, Michelsonia and Tetraberlinia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). Wageningen Agricvultural Papers 99-4:1&-320.).

Old World; Africa (Guineo-Congolian forests).

Generic Notes

Wieringa (1999) mongraphed this genus. He synonymized Monopetalanthus H.A.T. Harms (1.4.78) under Aphanocalyx and distributed its species among: Aphanocalyx, Bikingia (1.4.58A), Michelsonia (1.4.57), and Tetraberlinia (1.4.58). We have chosen to follow Wieringa. Gervais and Bruneau (2002) assessed Wieringa's claasification using molecular techniques, and their results agreed, in general, with those of Wieringa (1999).

Tribal Notes

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.