Calliandra

Taxonomy

Calliandra G. Bentham Nom. cons. J. Bot. (Hooker) 2: 138. Apr 1840.

Subfamily: Mimosoideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 2.5.09.
Tribe: Ingeae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 15 studied; 132 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 2.3–25 cm long (Barneby, 1998Barneby, 1998:
Barneby RC. 1998. Silk tree, Guanacaste, Monkey's Earring: A generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3): 1&-223. ); 0.4–2.5 cm wide (Barneby, 1998); 0.2–0.8 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide, or more than 9 times longer than wide (Barneby, 1998); with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with deciduous calyx; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight (or nearly so), or curved (rarely(Barneby, 1998)); not plicate; not twisted (Barneby, 1998); symmetrical, or asymmetrical (rarely, Barneby, 1998); linear to oblanceolate, or oblong, or falcate (rarely (Barneby, 1998)); with both sutures parallelly curved (Barneby, 1998); not inflated; compressed; without beak; short tapered at apex to abruptly long acuminate at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous to coriaceous, or membranous, or chartaceous (Barneby, 1998); seed chambers externally visible, or invisible (Barneby, 1998); seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose, or torulose (rarely (Barneby, 1998)); margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished, or plain; margin with thickened sutural areas; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 10–20 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down, or basal and up; active; with valves elastically reflexing to revolute (with breakage including sutures (occasionally remaining attached at center), usually remaining attached to thick sutures that occasionally are wider than valves). Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown to black; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate to glabrous; with hairs erect, or appressed (Barneby, 1998); with 1 type of pubescence; pilose, or puberulent, or strigose, or tomentose, or velutinous (Barneby, 1998); with pubescence black, or brown, or gray-brown, or white; with pubescence uniformly distributed, or with apical pubescence different from basal pubescence, or pubescence denser near sutures, sparser centrally (Barneby, 1998); with simple hairs (straight or antrorse); stiff, or pliable (Barneby, 1998); with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; smooth, or not smooth (Barneby, 1998); with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined, or longitudinally veined relative to fruit length, or obliquely veined relative to fruit length, or transversely veined relative to fruit length, or irregularly veined (Barneby, 1998); not tuberculate; wrinkled, or papillose (Barneby, 1998); not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp absent, or present; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; spongy, or solid; chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown, or tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–9 (Barneby, 1998); length parallel with fruit length to transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 1–4 mm long; of 1 length only; thick, or flattened, or filiform; straight to S-curved, or hooked. Aril absent.

Seed: 3.6–15(–22) mm long (Barneby, 1998Barneby, 1998:
Barneby RC. 1998. Silk tree, Guanacaste, Monkey's Earring: A generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3): 1&-223. ); 2.5–12 mm wide (Barneby, 1998); 2–6 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; circular to ovate, or oblong to rhombic; compressed, or flattened; 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 to glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; mottled, or monochrome (rarely); with frequent mottles to infrequent mottles; brown (to reddish brown), or olive; with brown overlay, or green overlay; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features, or recessed features; rugose; shallowly pitted with small separate pits; osseous to coriaceous. Pleurogram present, or absent (rarely, Barneby, 1998); 75–100 % (apically connected). Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible, or fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; punctiform; subapical to radicle tip to apical at apex of radicle tip; flush; within corona, or not within corona, halo, or rim; corona color darker than testa, or lighter than testa. Lens discernible, or not discernible; 0.2–0.5 mm long; with margins curved, or straight (rarely); linear; key-hole shaped, or elliptic, or punctiform; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.1–0.6 mm from hilum; mounded, or flush; dissimilar color from testa; lighter than testa; white; within corona, or not within corona, halo, or rim (rarely); corona color darker than testa. Endosperm absent (or scanty, Bravato, 1974Bravato, 1974:
Bravato M. 1974. Morphological study of fruits and seeds of the Mimosoideae (Leguminosae) of Venezuela. Acta Bot. Venez. 9(1&-4): 317&-361.> ). Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces flat, or outer face of one cotyledon flat and other cotyledon convex (rarely); 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; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan, or white; 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; bulbose; lobe tip straight; straight with embryonic axis; centered between cotyledons; 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Southwestern United States, Mexico, the West Indies, Central and South America.

New World; southwestern United States, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, and South America; Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and the Guianas.
 

Generic Notes

Barneby (1998) monographed the genus, excluding all the Old World species from it. Barneby's species number and distribution are used. Paul (1979) studied the species of Calliandra in India, and Renvoize (1981) studied the species in Bahia, Brazil. Unlike most other mimosoid genera, the dehiscing mechanism is the thickened sutures and not the fibrous mesocarp. Externally, the fruits of Alantsilodendron (2.3.29A) and Calliandra appear to be the same, but the Alantsilodendron thickenings are embedded tissue in the epicarp and not sutural thickenings.