Cordeauxia

Taxonomy

Cordeauxia W.B. Hemsley Bull. Misc. Inform. 1907: 361. 1–26 Oct 1907.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.1.29A.
Tribe: Caesalpinieae.
Group: Caesalpinia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 4–6 cm long; 1.7–2 cm wide; 0.7–1.6 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; fusiform; not inflated; compressed; without beak; long tapered at apex (sometimes with curved style); aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; fleshy to leathery (when moist), or ligneous (when dry); seed chambers externally visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dark reddish brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrate, or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with simple hairs; glandular; with glandular hairs (with red glands along margin); without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; rugose; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 1-layered (?); without balsamic vesicles; longitudinal with fibers; without reniform canals; mealy (pulpy when fresh); ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; glossy; opaque; monochrome; tan; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–4; length parallel with fruit length, or transverse to fruit length; touching, or neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1 mm long (minute); of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 20–50 mm long; 12–20 mm wide; 13–19 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; elliptic to ovate; subterete to terete; 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; brown; glabrous; smooth (to faintly rugose); osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible (ridgelike). Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 3 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; flush (with triangular collar); not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 4 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; triangular; elliptic to circular; not in groove of raphe; mounded; similar color as testa, or dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; brown, or red; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm absent. 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; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face concave; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight to deflexed; plicate to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Generic Notes

Figures B-E and G were redrawn from figures 4 in MiŠge and MiŠge (l978) and F was redrawn from Greenway and Raymond (l947). The endocarp apparently remains with the seed on leaving the fleshy mesocarp. Greenway and Raymond, Roti-Michelozzi (1957), and MiŠge and MiŠge discussed the food value of the seeds and history of the plant. Additional SEM micrographs of seeds may be found in MiŠge et al. (1978). MiŠge and MiŠge studied 191 fruits, and they found "27.8% containing one seed, 50.8% with 2, 18.3% with 3, and 3.1% with 4." Polhill and Vidal (1981) reported that another undescribed species is known. Lewis and Schrire (1995) stated, "Stuhlmannia includes Cordeauxia" (1.1.29A), and Polhill (1994b) accepted the synonymization. Lewis (1996) accepted Stuhlmannia and Cordeauxia as montypic genera.