Clianthus

Taxonomy

Clianthus D.C. Solander ex J. Lindley Nom. cons. Edwards's Bot. Reg. t. 1775. 1 Jul 1835.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.16.01.
Tribe: Galegeae.
Subtribe: Coluteinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 5–8 cm long; 0.5–1 cm wide (assumed); 0.5–1 cm thick (assumed); 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath, or persistent androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; slightly curved; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; oblong; with both sutures nearly straight; somewhat inflated; terete; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; long tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit (slightly); with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 5–10 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along 1 suture; apical and down; passive. Replum visible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dirty dark brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; transversely veined relative to fruit length and reticulately veined; not tuberculate; 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; brown; hairy; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) many; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 3–3.5 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; more or less straight. Aril faintly present; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; white.

Seed: 3.5–4 mm long; 3–3.5 mm wide; 1–1.3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; reniform; compressed; with surface smooth; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes; without hilar sinus; without umbo on seed faces; without medial ridge on each face. Testa present; without pieces of adhering epicarp; not adhering to endocarp, or partially adhering to endocarp (seeds often with tuffs of endocarp hairs); free from endocarp; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or mottled and streaked; with frequent mottles; with frequent streaks; reddish brown, or tan (reddish); with black overlay; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; reticulate, or wrinkled; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible, or fully concealed; concealed by radicle lobe; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; punctiform; marginal according to radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible, or not discernible; 0.1–0.5 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; linear; circular; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.1–0.5 mm from hilum; mounded; same color as testa, or dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; black; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thick; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to testa, or embryo. 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; not concealing radicle; entire over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; yellow, or tan (reddish); 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; bulbose; lobe tip straight; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length; centered between cotyledons, or not centered between cotyledons (radicle outside 1 cotyledon and inside other, therefore junctions for each cotyledon different); less than 1/2 length of cotyledons, or 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Northeastern New Zealand.

Old World; Australia and New Zealand (northeastern).

Generic Notes

Because the seeds of Clianthus puniceus are so unlike those of C. formsus (G. Don) N.C. Ford & J.W. Vickery, we are pleased with the transfer of the latter species to Swainsona (16.02). Polhill (1981h) noted that C. puniceus "is virtually extinct." We were unable to study an entire fruit of this genus.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Galegeae

Traditionally this tribe has been called Galegeae. Reveal (1997) reported that the name Astragaleae was published before the name Galegeae. Following the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al., 1994), the oldest name for a taxon must be used, so Reveal suggested that this tribe should be called Astragaleae. In 1999 Reveal (1999) reversed himself, so that this tribe remains the Galegeae. Welsh (1960) reported on the Galegeae of north-central United States. Sanderson and Liston (1995) carried out cladistic analyses of Galegeae genera using molecular data. They concluded that Galegeae is paraphyletic having given rise to tribes Cicereae (20), Hedysareae (18), Trifolieae (21), and Fabeae (19), and therefore requiring a re-evaluation of the circumscription of Galegeae. Heenan (1995, 1998c), utilizing unpublished nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS data, concluded that "Carmichaelia (17.05) is nested within (the) 'Astragalean clade' of Galegeae" and is the sister group of Clianthus. He therefore supported the proposal of Sanderson and Wojciehowski (1996) that Carmichaelieae should not be recognized at tribal level, but rather included in Galegeae.