Camoensia

Taxonomy

Camoensia F.M.J. Welwitsch ex G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker Nom. cons. Gen. 1: 557. 19 Oct 1865.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.2.39.
Tribe: Sophoreae.
Group: Sophora.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 14–22 cm long; 3.5–4 cm wide; 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, or curved (slightly); not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; nearly linear; with both sutures parallelly curved; not inflated; compressed; with beak; hooked; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; tapered at apex, or rounded at apex; right-angled with longitudinal axis of fruit, or almost reaching longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 60–65 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves twisting. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull (obscured by pubescence); monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; densely velutinous; with pubescence brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not tuberculate; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick; surface sparsely, uniformly veined; 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; with solid layer over solid layer; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; mottled; tan; with mottling over seed chambers and above and below seed chambers; with brown overlay; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 3–5; in 1 series. Aril present; fleshy; when fleshy 2-lipped rim-aril; entire; covering less than 1/2 of seed; with tongues (or flap) on lips of 2-lipped rim-aril; with 1 tongue or flap on 1 lip of 2-lipped rim-aril; brown to tan.

Seed: 20–37 mm long; 14–24 mm wide; 8–10.5 mm thick; not overgrown; angular, or not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; irregular, or oblong, or ovate; 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; glossy to dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or mottled; with frequent mottles; black to brown; with brown overlay; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features and recessed features; wrinkled; striate; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 4.2–6 mm long; with curved outline; oval, or heart-shaped; apical at apex of radicle tip to subapical to radicle tip; recessed; within rim and within corona; corona color lighter than testa; rim color of testa. Lens discernible; 1–2.5 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; triangular; elliptic; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum, or confluent with hilum; 0.5 mm from hilum; mounded, or recessed; same color as testa, or similar color as testa; lighter than testa; brown; within rim, or within corona, or not within corona, halo, or rim; corona color lighter than testa; rim color of testa. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons not smooth; 5–7-branched grooves (from veins of testa) on each face; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; 1 longer than other (slightly); not folded; margin entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; similar at apex; completely concealing radicle; split over radicle; with lobes; with lobes overlapping; without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; creamy white, or tan; 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, or triangular; lobe tip straight; straight with embryonic axis; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Gulf of Guinea (Nigeria to Angola).

Old World; Africa.

Generic Notes

Only one small piece of a fruit was available for study.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Sophoreae

Polhill (1981b) stated that the Sophoreae s.l. is a tribe of convenience between the Caesalpinioideae and the bulk of the Papilionoideae, sharply defined from neither. He transferred four genera from Sophoreae into the Swartzieae (1), Amburana (3.1.15), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14), and Holocalyx (3.1.12), following Herendeen's (1995) cladistic analyses. Herendeen performed cladistic analyses for all Swartzieae genera, sensu Cowan (1981), 19 Sophoreae genera, 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.