Canavalia

Taxonomy

Canavalia A.P. de Candolle Nom. cons. Prodr. 2: 403. Nov (med.) 1825.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.10.21.
Tribe: Phaseoleae.
Subtribe: Diocleinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 23 studied; 50 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 7–40 cm long; 1.5–6 cm wide; 0.7–3 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide to more than 9 times longer than wide; with persistent androecial sheath (with or without various petals), or deciduous androecial sheath; with persistent corolla (with or without androecial sheath), or deciduous corolla; with various petals; with persistent calyx, or deciduous calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; linear; not inflated, or inflated (slightly, from literature); compressed to terete; without beak, or with beak; straight, or declined; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; tapered at apex, or short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous, or ligneous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with thickened sutural areas, or thickened sutural areas and wing(s); wing(s) present, or absent; wing(s) 2, or 4 (one wing on each valve, sometimes two wings on upper suture); wing(s) 1–1.5 mm wide; wing(s) valvular, or valvular and sutural; wing(s) on both valves; wing(s) on 1 suture; nonstipitate; 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; multicolored; mottled; tan, or brown; with brown overlay; mottling color combination constant; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; pilose; with pubescence white; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; veined, or not veined; transversely veined relative to fruit length; not tuberculate; wrinkled; exfoliating in part, or not exfoliating; with cracks, or without cracks; cracking oblique to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick; surface not veined; 1-layered, or 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; with vitriol layer over solid layer; (sub-) ligneous to coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome, or mottled; tan to white; with mottling more or less uniform (dark); with brown overlay; scurfy and smooth (over seed chambers), or floury-filamentous; without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; exfoliating in part; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; with wing(s) extending into epicarp, or without wings; entire. Seed(s) 3–15; length oblique to fruit length, or transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching, or touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 5–30 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight, or triangular (long). Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril and tongue-aril, or rim-aril, or 2-lipped rim-aril; entire, or fimbriate; covering less than 1/2 of seed; without tongue (or flap) on lips of 2-lipped rim-aril, or with tongues (or flap) on lips of 2-lipped rim-aril; with 1 tongue or flap on 1 lip of 2-lipped rim-aril; tan.

Seed: 7–48 mm long; 5–25 mm wide; 2–21 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical (slightly); elliptic to oblong, or ovate; terete, or 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, or mottled; with infrequent mottles, or frequent mottles; brown to reddish brown, or ivory; with brown overlay (dark); glabrous; smooth; coriaceous, or osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Raphe not visible, or visible; from lens to base of seed and terminating; not bifurcating; darker than testa; dark brown; raised. Hilum present; visible; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split lighter colored than the rest of the hilum and therefore conspicuous; larger than punctiform; 5–35 mm long; with straight outline; linear; marginal according to radicle tip; flush, or raised (slightly); not within corona, halo, or rim, or within rim; rim color of testa, or darker than testa. Lens discernible, or not discernible; 0.1–1 mm long; with margins straight; linear; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; recessed; same color as testa; brown; not within corona, halo, or rim, or within rim; rim color darker than testa. Endosperm absent, or present; trace; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; restricted to region of embryo; adnate to testa. Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; both more or less of equal length; not folded; margin not entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; notched; similar at apex; partially concealing radicle; split over radicle, or notched at radicle; with lobes, or without lobes; with lobes not touching, or touching (auriculate), or overlapping; without basal groin formed by lobes, or with basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; white to tan; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis oblique, or right angled; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; bulbose, or linear; lobe tip straight, or curved; oblique to cotyledons, or with 90 degree turn, or straight with embryonic axis; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Pantropical.

New World and Old World; pantropical; United States, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, and South America; Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and the Guianas; China, Japan, Africa, Madagascar, Southwest Asia, India, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii.
 

Generic Notes

Sauer (1964) monographed Canavalia, and illustrated its seeds. Adema (1997) reviewed the nine Malesian species, and illustrated the fruits for five of them.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Phaseoleae

Bruneau et al. (1995) carried out cladistic analyses of tribe Phaseoleae using chloroplast DNA restriction site data. Their results indicated that the tribe is not monophyletic and that the tribal delimitations between Phaseoleae and Desmodieae (11) and between Phaseoleae and Millettieae (7) are problematic.