Candolleodendron

Taxonomy

Candolleodendron R.S. Cowan Rhodora 68: 429. 28 Dec 1966.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.1.03.
Tribe: Swartzieae.
Group: Swartzia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 2–6.5 cm long; 1.3–3 cm wide; 0.7–1.3 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; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; oblong (ovate); with both sutures nearly straight; not inflated; compressed; without beak; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted, or constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; reddish brown, or tan (reddish); with brown overlay (dark reddish); with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; verrucose-rugose; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thin; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome, or streaked; reddish brown, or tan (reddish); with brown overlay (reddish); smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; coriaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 4–11; length transverse to fruit length; touching; in 2 or more series. Funiculus 0.5–27 mm long; of 2 different lengths; filiform; contorted, or S-curved, or curved. Aril present; fleshy; when fleshy leaflike and attached to marginal hilum; entire; covering less than 1/2 of seed; dark reddish brown.

Seed: 10–18 mm long; 9–12 mm wide; 6–10 mm thick; not overgrown; angular; asymmetrical; irregular, or rectangular, or triangular; quadrangular, or compressed; with surface smooth; without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without hilar sinus; with 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 streaked; with frequent streaks; dark reddish brown; with brown overlay (lighter reddish); glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; reticulate (radiating from hilum); chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed, or visible; concealed by aril; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 3–5 mm long; with straight outline; oblong; marginal according to radicle tip, or subapical to radicle tip; flush; within halo; halo darker than testa (black). Lens not discernible. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons not smooth; wrinkled; 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; entire over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; reddish brown; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis deflexed; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; triangular; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon width; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons (much less). Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

French Guiana.

New World; South America (French Guiana); Brazil and Ecuador.

Generic Notes

Cowan (1966, 1977) described and illustrated fruits and seeds.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Swartzieae

Swartzieae has been assigned to Caesalpinioideae (Cowan, 1968), Swartzioideae (de Candolle, 1825a, 1825b; Corner, 1976), and Faboideae (Bentham, 1865, Hutchinson, 1964, Cowan, 1981). In 1968, Cowan (1968) was unable "finally to resolve the sub-familial relationship of Swartzia," but in 1981, he (Cowan 1981) placed it in the Faboideae and stated, "... features appear to support the arrangement adopted here (Cowan 1981) with the Swartzieae representing a relatively less-advanced position in the Papilionoideae (Faboideae). This conclusion is now supported by wood anatomy ..., by nodulation proclivity ..., and by chemistry ...; chromosome numbers of n=8, 10 or 14 ..., as well as pollen morphology ..., do not negate this conclusion." In the most recent assessment of the Fabaceae, Polhill (1994a, 1994b) maintained Swartzieae as a basal tribe of Faboideae, "transitional to the Caesalpinioideae." He transferred four genera from Sophoreae (2) into the Swartzieae, Amburana (3.1.15), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14), and Holocalyx (3.1.12), and arranged the genera in four groups corresponding to clades in Herendeen's (1994) cladistic analysis. Herendeen carried out cladistic analyses using morphological characters of all Swartzieae genera, 19 genera of Sophoreae, 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. Ireland et al. (2000) also carried out molecular phylogenetic studies. They also concluded that Swartizeae is polyphyletic, and suggested that possibly tribe Swartzieae could be maintained with Swartzia (3.1.01), Bobgunnia (3.1.01A), Bocoa (3.1.02), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14) and the current remaining Swartzieae genera transferred to other tribes. Our seed data neither support nor refute the overall outlines of Herendeen's cladograms; they are discussed below for a few genera. Ferguson and Skvarla (1991) reported on the pollen morphology of Aldina and Swartzia (1.01), and the nine other genera of Swartzieae are covered in Ferguson and Skvarla (1988). Their data are summarized in a computer-generated key in Vezey et al. (1991). The pollen data for the tribe should be compared with our seed-fruit morphological data.