Deguelia

Taxonomy

Deguelia J.B.C.F. Aublet Hist. Pl. Guiane 750. t. 300. Jun 1775.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.7.
Tribe: Millettieae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; at least 17 in genus (Azevedo-Tozzi 1989Azevedo-Tozzi 1989:
Azevedo-Tozzi AMG de. 1989. Estudos taxonômicos dos gêneros Lonchocarpus Kunth e Deguelia Aubl. no Brasil. Tese de Doutorado. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil. 341 pp. [Available in the library of the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.]).

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 3.5–20 cm long; 1.4–3.2 cm wide; 0.15–0.25 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide to 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; symmetrical; elliptic, or oblong, or C-shaped (sub); not inflated; compressed; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; rounded at apex, or short tapered at apex, or truncate at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base, or truncate at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous to membranous to coriaceous, or ligneous (sub,rarely); seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain, or embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) absent, or present; wing(s) 1; wing(s) 1.5–5 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture (upper suture); stipitate, or substipitate, or nonstipitate; with the stipe 5 mm long; indehiscent, or with all layers dehiscing (tardily, Deguelia duckeana Azevedo-Tozzi, 1989); splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; light brwon to brown to tan; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate to glabrate; with hairs appressed; with 1 type of pubescence; tomentose, or puberulent; with pubescence tan; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; 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 present, or absent; trace; surface not veined; 1-layered; with balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; glassy beads; membranous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan to white; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; membranous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–12; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 2.5 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 5–10(–17) mm long; 4–7 mm wide; 2–2.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; reniform, or oblong, or circular; 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; not modified by a bloom; colored; mottled; with infrequent mottles (the patches relatively large); brown; with light brown overlay to tan overlay; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; wrinkled; membraneous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; with faboid split (assumed); larger than punctiform; 0.8 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; raised; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons not smooth; 1–3 grooves on each face; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; both more or less of equal length; with only 1 folded; not sufficiently folded for inner face to touch itself; portions of inner folded face unequal; 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; green; 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; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Northern South America and reaching the Isthmus of Panama (Azevedo-Tozzi 1989).