Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.7.
Tribe: Millettieae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 3 studied; 5 in genus, or 6 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 3–5.5 cm long; 1.8–2.9 cm wide; 0.3–0.4 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; circular, or elliptic, or obliquely obovate, or obliquely ovate; with both sutures parallelly curved, or both sutures unequally curved; not inflated; flattened; without beak; rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous to coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 1, or 2; wing(s) 2–4 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture, or both sutures; stipitate; with the stipe 5–7 mm long; indehiscent. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; orange brown; with brown overlay; mottling color combination variable; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined, or not veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; papillose; 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; chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; creamy yellow; smooth and scurfy; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; with wing(s) extending into epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1(–3) (three in literature, not observed); length parallel with fruit length, or oblique to fruit length. Funiculus 0.5–1 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril absent.
Seed: 17–22 mm long; 16–21 mm wide; 2.5–3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical to asymmetrical; elliptic to ovate, or irregular; flattened; 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. 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 mottled; with infrequent mottles; orange; with brown overlay; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; wrinkled; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible; from hilum through base of seed and up the other side; not bifurcating; darker than testa; brown; raised. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; larger than punctiform; ca. 0.5 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; subapical to radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. 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 lobes; with lobes not touching; without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; brown; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; oblique 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; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.
Tribe Millettieae
Geesink (1981) treated this tribe, as others before him, under the tribal name Tephroseae, but we now know that its correct name is Millettieae. Recent tribal studies (Geesink, 1981, 1984; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b) have arranged the genera in alphabetical order without phylogenetic numbers. Geesink (1984) monographed tribe Millettieae, and presented descriptive notes about fruits and seeds and in situ fruit and seed drawings. However, we are not entirely following Geesink (1984) for generic parameters because he either questioned the status of many of his new genera or did not make the necessary species transfers. The few new genera which he clearly recognized are being accepted. Lavin et al. (1998) developed a preliminary infratribal classification of six informal groups using phytochrome nucleotides: Millettia group, Lonchocarpus group, Derris group, Tephrosia group, "primitive" group, and Phaseoleae group. Lavin (1987) transferred Sphinctospermum to Millettieae. Lavin and Doyle (1991) carried out cladistic analyses integrating morphological and chloroplast DNA data, and concluded that it is a member of Robineae where we have placed it (now 8.12).
Authors: J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, A.L. Weitzman, M.J. Dallwitz, K.R. Thiele
Content last updated April 2003
Released April 2024 on idtools.org
