Brenierea

Taxonomy

Brenierea J.-H. Humbert Compt. Rend. Hebd. Séances Acad. Sci. 249: 1599. 1959.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.3.05.
Tribe: Cercideae.
Subtribe: Bauhiniinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; (1.4–)1.7–2.3 cm long; 1–1.6 cm wide; 0.3–0.4 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width; 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; elliptic (with dorsal margin arched more than ventral margin); not inflated; flattened; without beak; tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base to rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit (more or less); with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally invisible, or visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; olive brown, or tan, or gray (because of hairs); with surface texture uniform; densely pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; with simple hairs; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; shagreen; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 1-layered (?); without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; fibrous throughout; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; reddish brown; cobwebby (around one or both seeds); without adhering pieces of testa; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–2; length parallel with fruit length to transverse to fruit length; touching; in 1 series. Funiculus stalk up to 1 mm long; of 1 length only; bifurcating at seed into 2 sharp-pointed chartaceous arillike lobes 3 mm long usually adnate to testa, thick; triangular. Aril absent.

Seed: 7–12 mm long; 5.5–9 mm wide; 2–2.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; irregularly D-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, or glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; dark brown; glabrous; essentially smooth, or not smooth (occasionally); with recessed features, or elevated features; reticulate; pitted with small separate pits (fan shaped); osseous. Pleurogram absent (hilum on margin may resemble pleurogram). 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; with arms about 2 mm long; with angular outline; V-shaped; marginal according to radicle tip, or apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. Endosperm present; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; adnate to testa. Cotyledons not smooth; 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; similar at apex; not concealing radicle; entire over radicle; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis right angled (at mesocotyl); perpendicular 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

Generic Notes

The other genus in this subfamily with a deflexed embryo is Julbernardia (5.07). A deflexed embryo is a commonly seen character of seeds in the subfamily Faboideae. Humbert (1959) monographed the genus. Wunderlin et al. (1981) placed this monotypic genus in the same subtribe as Bauhinia, noting that they shared seed characters. The stipe, albeit 2 mm long, is clearly discernible because of the short-tapered to rounded base. Watson and Dallwitz (1983) mistakenly described the seeds as "arillate," and the radicle as "straight or slightly oblique".