Cathormion

Taxonomy

Cathormion (G. Bentham) J.C. Hasskarl Retzia 1: 231. 1855.

Subfamily: Mimosoideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 2.5.04.
Tribe: Ingeae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A loment (or a loment segment); 10–20 cm long (Nielsen, 1985bNielsen, 1985b:
Nielsen IC. 1985b. The Malesian species of Acacia and Albizia (Leguminosae—Mimosoideae). Opera Bot. 81:5&-50., 1992b); 1.7–3 cm wide (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); 0.6–0.7 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with deciduous corolla (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with deciduous calyx (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); curved (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); not plicate (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); not twisted (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); asymmetrical; falcate (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with both sutures parallelly curved (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); not inflated (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); flattened; without beak (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); rounded at apex (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); rounded at base, or short tapered at base (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with the apex and base uniform in texture (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); ligneous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin constricted; margin constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with the stipe ca. 8 mm long (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); indehiscent. Replum invisible. Loment an intact article; indehiscent; segments (articles) conspicuous; segments (articles) 17–21 mm long; segments (articles) widest across seed area; segments (articles) with apical 1 different shape than middle one(s) and basal 1 different shape than middle one(s); segments (articles) circular, or trapezoid. Epicarp glossy; monochrome; dark brown to black; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or pubescent and indurate (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); puberulent (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with simple hairs (straight, Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); eglandular; without spines (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); smooth, or not smooth (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); with recessed features (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); not veined; not tuberculate; glandularly punctate (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); checking; with cracks; cracking irregular; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick; surface not veined; 3-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; with solid layer over 2 distinct spongy layers; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; glossy; opaque; monochrome; reddish brown; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; with septa thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) ca. 9 (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Aril absent.

Seed: 10–15 mm long (Nielsen, 1985b, 1992b); 8–12 mm wide (Nielsen, 1985bNielsen, 1985b:
Nielsen IC. 1985b. The Malesian species of Acacia and Albizia (Leguminosae—Mimosoideae). Opera Bot. 81:5&-50., 1992b); 2–3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; elliptic; compressed to flattened; with surface smooth; without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without hilar sinus, or with shallow hilar sinus (rarely); 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; brown; glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram present; 95–98 %. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines present; irregular, or reticulate. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split (assumed); larger than punctiform; ca. 0.5 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.5–0.7 mm long; with margins straight; oblong; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; mounded; dissimilar color from testa; lighter than testa; white; within rim; rim color of testa. Endosperm 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 entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; similar at apex; partially concealing radicle; notched at radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis parallel; 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

Southeast Asia and northern Australia.

Old World; Africa, India, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines, and Australia (northern).

Generic Notes

Earlier Nielsen (1981a) synonymized Cathormion under Albizia (2.5.03). Recently he (Nielsen, 1992b) accepted it as a monotypic genus consisting of only the Old World C. umbellatum (M.H. Vahl) A.J.G.H. Kostermans and "to refer the African and American species to Albizia." Barneby and Grimes (1996) referred the American species of Cathormion to the genera Albizia, Choroleucon (2.5.12), and Hydrochorea (2.5.01A), and were uncertain about the placement of the African species (page 247).