Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.1.13.
Tribe: Swartzieae.
Group: Ateleia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 5 studied; 16 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 1.5–3.7 cm long; 1–1.8 cm wide; 0.2–0.3 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width, or 2–9 times longer than wide; with persistent androecial sheath, or deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; reniform to irregular; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture, or both sutures unequally curved; widest near middle or D-shaped; not inflated; flattened; without beak; rounded at apex; 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 invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 1; wing(s) 1–3 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture; stipitate; with the stipe 5–10 mm long; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; tan to yellow; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or pubescent but soon deciduous; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; pilose; with pubescence golden; with pubescence uniformly distributed, or with apical pubescence different from basal pubescence; with apical 3/4 glabrous and basal 1/4 pilose; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; 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; thin; surface uniformly veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without reniform canals; spongy; chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull to glossy; opaque; monochrome; tan to yellow; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; with wing(s) extending into epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1(–2); length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus ca. 1 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; straight. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril; crenate; white.
Seed: 4–10 mm long; 2.5–7.5 mm wide; 2–4.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; reniform to C-shaped; 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; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; reddish brown to brown, or black; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; slightly rugose; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; partially concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 0.6–1.3 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic to oval; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; recessed; within rim; rim color lighter than testa. Lens discernible; 0.1–0.7 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; diamond-shaped; circular; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 1 mm from hilum; mounded; similar color as testa; lighter than testa, or darker than testa; brown; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thick to thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to embryo. Cotyledons not smooth; slightly sulcate; 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; partially concealing radicle; slightly notched at radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; yellow, or tan; inner face slightly concave, or flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis oblique; perpendicular to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear; lobe tip curved; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary, or moderately developed; glabrous.
Polhill (1994a, 1994b) transferred this genus from the Sophoreae (2) following Herendeen's (1995) cladistic analysis.
Tribe Swartzieae
Swartzieae has been assigned to Caesalpinioideae (Cowan, 1968), Swartzioideae (de Candolle, 1825a, 1825b; Corner, 1976), and Faboideae (Bentham, 1865, Hutchinson, 1964, Cowan, 1981). In 1968, Cowan (1968) was unable "finally to resolve the sub-familial relationship of Swartzia," but in 1981, he (Cowan 1981) placed it in the Faboideae and stated, "... features appear to support the arrangement adopted here (Cowan 1981) with the Swartzieae representing a relatively less-advanced position in the Papilionoideae (Faboideae). This conclusion is now supported by wood anatomy ..., by nodulation proclivity ..., and by chemistry ...; chromosome numbers of n=8, 10 or 14 ..., as well as pollen morphology ..., do not negate this conclusion." In the most recent assessment of the Fabaceae, Polhill (1994a, 1994b) maintained Swartzieae as a basal tribe of Faboideae, "transitional to the Caesalpinioideae." He transferred four genera from Sophoreae (2) into the Swartzieae, Amburana (3.1.15), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14), and Holocalyx (3.1.12), and arranged the genera in four groups corresponding to clades in Herendeen's (1994) cladistic analysis. Herendeen carried out cladistic analyses using morphological characters of all Swartzieae genera, 19 genera of Sophoreae, and three Caesalpinioideae genera. He concluded that Swartzieae is polyphyletic and that it should be disbanded and its genera transferred to Sophoreae. Preliminary rbcL data (Doyle et al. 1997) supported his conclusions. Ireland et al. (2000) also carried out molecular phylogenetic studies. They also concluded that Swartizeae is polyphyletic, and suggested that possibly tribe Swartzieae could be maintained with Swartzia (3.1.01), Bobgunnia (3.1.01A), Bocoa (3.1.02), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14) and the current remaining Swartzieae genera transferred to other tribes. Our seed data neither support nor refute the overall outlines of Herendeen's cladograms; they are discussed below for a few genera. Ferguson and Skvarla (1991) reported on the pollen morphology of Aldina and Swartzia (1.01), and the nine other genera of Swartzieae are covered in Ferguson and Skvarla (1988). Their data are summarized in a computer-generated key in Vezey et al. (1991). The pollen data for the tribe should be compared with our seed-fruit morphological data.
Authors: J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, A.L. Weitzman, M.J. Dallwitz, K.R. Thiele
Content last updated April 2003
Released April 2024 on idtools.org
