Cyclocarpa

Taxonomy

Cyclocarpa A. Afzelius ex I. Urban Jahrb. Königl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 3: 247. Dec 1884.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.14.16.
Tribe: Aeschynomeneae.
Subtribe: Aeschynomeninae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A loment (or a loment segment); 1.5–2.2 cm long (0.4–0.6 in diameter); 0.15–0.27 cm wide; 0.03–0.04 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with deciduous calyx; with orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; 1.5-coiled; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; circular; not inflated; flattened; without beak; rounded at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit (slightly); 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; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; with all layers dehiscing; separating from suture(s) and along loment segment margins. Dehiscence of valves along both sutures (figure B); passive. Replum visible (when articles separate). Loment dehiscing along 1 suture; segments (articles) inconspicuous; segments (articles) 1.5–2 mm long; segments (articles) widest across seed area; segments (articles) with apical 1 different shape than middle one(s), or basal 1 different shape than middle one(s); segments (articles) trapezoid. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dark brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp present; visible; glossy; opaque; monochrome; dark brown; spongy; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; with septa thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 8–11; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 0.7–1.2 mm long; 0.5–1 mm wide; 0.25–0.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; mitaform; compressed; 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. Cuticle not exfoliating; not inflated; not wrinkled. Testa present; without pieces of adhering epicarp; not adhering to endocarp; free from endocarp; nearly glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; dark brown, or green, or tan; glabrous; smooth; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; punctiform; between cotyledon and radicle lobe; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; with margins curved; more or less circular; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.5 mm from hilum; flush; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; black (ish); not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thick; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire 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; completely concealing radicle; split over radicle; with lobes; with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis right angled; perpendicular 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 width; centered between cotyledons; 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Tropical Africa, Indochina, Indonesia (Java), and Australia (Queensland).

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

Generic Notes

Gillett et al. (1971) have an excellent fruit illustration, and Verdcourt (1974) noted that the species is "very local." Because the fruits are coiled 1.5 times, their lengths, though determined, are of little diagnostic value. Their diameters are noted. This unique dehiscence in the Fabaceae is illustrated in figure B. The fruit breaks into articles which in turn dehisce along their margins.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Aeschynomeneae

Rudd (1981a) recognized four subtribes of Aeschynomeneae: Ormocarpinae V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.01–3.14.08), Aeschynomeninae (genera 3.14.09–3.14.16), Discolobinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genus 3.14.17: Discolobium), Poiretiinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.18–3.14.21), and Stylosanthinae (G. Bentham) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.22–13.4.26). Tribal and subtribal placement of Diphysa is based on Lavin (1987; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b), and not on Polhill and Sousa (1981), who placed Diphysa in Robinieae. Bailey et al. (1997), using the chloroplast rpl2 intron and ORF184, suggested that Brya (11.01), Cranocarpus (11.02), Phylacium (11.22), and Neocollettia (11.26) are not members of Desmodieae (11) and that they probably belong in Aeschynomeneae.