Balsamocarpon

Taxonomy

Balsamocarpon D. Clos In C. Gay, Hist. Chile, Bot. 2: 226. t. 20. Ante Mai 1847.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.1.33.
Tribe: Caesalpinieae.
Group: Caesalpinia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 3.8–4.1 cm long; 1.2–1.5 cm wide; 0.6–1 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; oblong; not inflated; compressed to subtriangular; without beak; tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; nonstipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; gray eglandular, or glandular; with glandular red hairs; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; rugose; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; with fibers transverse reticulate over vitriol layer; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; white; without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 4–5; length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–1.5 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; S-curved. Aril absent.

Seed: 7.5–8.5 mm long; 7.5–8 mm wide; 4.5–6 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; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; brown; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; shagreen; osseous. 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; punctiform; apical at apex of radicle tip; recessed (depression slitlike); not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.3 mm long; with margins curved; circular; not in groove of raphe; recessed; dissimilar color from testa; black; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thick; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; 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; with lobes; with lobes overlapping; with basal groin formed by lobes; 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 rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Chile.

New World; South America (Chile).
 

Generic Notes

Polhill and Vidal (1981) regarded this genus as "a very doubtful segregate of Caesalpinia, distinguished solely by the pinnate leaves, a feature rare in Caesalpinia as traditionally circumscribed (there are several pinnate leaved Caesalpinias in Cuba)".