Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.10.01.
Tribe: Phaseoleae.
Subtribe: Erythrininae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 85 studied; 112 in genus.
Fruit: A legume (breaking between seed chambers into "articles"), or a nutlet; unilocular; 4–24 cm long; 1–3 cm wide; 0.5–2 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide, or more than 9 times longer than wide; 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, or curved (or slightly curved), or 1-coiled (rarely), or 2-coiled (rarely); not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; moniliform, or fusiform, or linear, or falcate and moniliform, or falcate, or irregular; with both sutures parallelly curved, or both sutures unequally curved, or 1 straight and 1 curved suture (rarely); widest near middle or D-shaped; not inflated; compressed, or terete; with beak, or without beak; straight, or declined, or hooked, or coiled; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; long tapered at apex, or tapered at apex, or short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit, or right-angled with longitudinal axis of fruit, or almost reaching longitudinal axis of fruit, or exceeding (crossing) longitudinal axis of fruit (rarely); long tapered at base, or tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous, or leathery, or ligneous, or fleshy (rarely); seed chambers externally visible, or invisible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose, or torulose (sometimes); margin constricted, or not constricted; margin constricted along both margins, or slightly constricted along both margins, or constricted only on 1 margin, or slightly constricted only on 1 margin; margin without sulcus; margin embellished, or plain; margin with thickened sutural areas, or wing(s); wing(s) absent, or present (rarely); wing(s) 3; wing(s) 0.1–5 mm wide; wing(s) sutural (two on ventral suture, 1 on dorsal); wing(s) on both sutures; stipitate, or nonstipitate; with the stipe 5–44 mm long; with all layers dehiscing, or indehiscent (rarely); splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures, or 1 suture; apical and down; active; with valves twisting, or coiling (rarely). Replum invisible, or visible (rarely). Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; brown, or black, or tan; with black overlay, or brown overlay; mottling color combination constant; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or glabrate, or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; tomentose; with pubescence golden, or brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines, or with spines; with spines persistent; with spines same color as the rest of the fruit (but slightly paler); smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; veined, or not veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; wrinkled, or muricate; not exfoliating; without cracks, or with cracks; cracking irregular; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick, or thin, or trace; 1-layered, or 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; spongy (in literature), or solid; with spongy layer over solid layer; (sub-) ligneous, or coriaceous, or chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome, or mottled; tan, or brown (to dark brown); with mottling more or less uniform (dark); with brown overlay, or black overlay; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; septate, or subseptate, or nonseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible, or thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous, or ligneous (rarely, from literature); exfoliating, or exfoliating in part, or not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp, or separating from mesocarp (which also separates from epicarp), or separating with mesocarp from epicarp; without wings, or with wing(s) extending into epicarp (rarely); entire. Seed(s) (1–)2–12; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.5–3.5 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened, or thick; straight, or triangular, or contorted. Aril absent, or present; dry; when dry rim-aril, or tongue-aril, or partial rim-aril; fimbriate, or entire; brown, or tan.
Seed: 5–45 mm long; 4–20 mm wide; 5–20 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; circular, or elliptic, or oblong, or ovate, or reniform (sometimes flattened on end opposite radicle); terete to compressed; with surface smooth, or ridged (dorsally); without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes, or 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, or glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or bichrome, or mottled; with frequent mottles; red, or orange, or brown, or black, or red and black, or tan to yellow; with brown overlay (dark), or black overlay; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth (rarely); with elevated features, or recessed features; wrinkled (on drying); pitted with small separate pits; osseous, or coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible, or not visible; from lens to base of seed and bifurcating, or hilum through lens and base of seed to point opposite hilum; not bifurcating; color of testa; slightly raised. Hilum present; visible, or partially concealed, or fully concealed; concealed by funiculus, or funicular remnant, or aril, or aril remnant; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum, or lighter colored than the rest of the hilum and therefore conspicuous; larger than punctiform; 2–10.5 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic to oval; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length, or marginal according to radicle tip; flush, or recessed, or raised; not within corona, halo, or rim, or within halo, or within rim; halo lighter than testa, or darker than testa; rim color of testa, or darker than testa. Lens discernible; 0.1–5.3 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; linear, or rhombic, or wedge-shaped; elliptic, or ovate, or punctiform, or circular; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; flush, or mounded, or recessed; same color as testa, or similar color as testa, or dissimilar color from testa; lighter than testa, or darker than testa; black; not within corona, halo, or rim, or within halo; halo color darker than testa. 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, or not entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; notched, or wavy, or bearing flaps; similar at apex; partially concealing radicle; notched at radicle, or split over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed, or with margin(s) recessed (rarely); with 1 margin recessed; recessed on same side as radicle; white, or yellow (pale), or tan; inner face flat, or concave (slightly); glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis oblique; oblique to length of seed, or parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; triangular, or bulbose; lobe tip straight, or curved; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed, or well developed; glabrous.
Krukoff and Barneby (1974) monographed Erythrina and recognized 105 species, and Gunn and Barnes (1977) described the seeds of 101 species. Neill (1988) studied the biosystematic relationships of the species of Erythrina, and recognized 112 species, four more than Lackey recognized (1981). Adema (1996) synonymized E. stricta and E. suberosa W. Roxburgh, and accepted E. stricta as the correct name. Brunueau (1996) studied the chloroplast DNA of 51 Erythrina species. She concluded that a paraphyletic group of South American species is basal in the genus and that two main clades are derived from it. One is South American and Mexican, and the other is Asian from which is derived a New World group and an African clade with derived Asian and South American species.
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
