Eurypetalum

Taxonomy

Eurypetalum H.A.T. Harms Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 45: 293. f. 1. 13 Dec 1910.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.4.14.
Tribe: Detarieae.
Group: Hymenostegia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 3 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 10 cm long; 4 cm wide; ?; 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, or asymmetrical; with nearly straight 1 straight and 1 curved suture; widest near middle or D-shaped (stated as "scimitar shaped"); not inflated; flattened; without beak; long tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally invisible; 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; active; with valves separately enrolling. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; faintly veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; lenticular; exfoliating in part; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 1-layered, or 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; solid; with fibers embedded in mealy tissue over solid layer; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–2; length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only. Aril absent.

Seed: 23–30 mm long; 14–20 mm wide; 4–6 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; oblong to D-shaped; flattened; 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; blackish brown; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; minutely rugose; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 0.1–1 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; subapical to radicle tip; recessed; 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, or completely concealing radicle; split over radicle (and lobes); with lobes; with lobes touching (auriculate); without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; 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; centered between cotyledons. Plumule glabrous.

Distribution

Cameroon and Gabon.

Old World; Africa (Cameroon and Gabon).

Generic Notes

No mature fruits were studied.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Detarieae

Bruneau et al. (2000) carried out extensive phylogenetic analyses of tribes Amherstieae and Detarieae. They concluded that they form a single monophyletic group. Therefore, they supported Polhill's (1995a, 1995b) decision to unite the two tribes.