Falcataria

Taxonomy

Falcataria (I.C. Nielsen) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 254. 25 Mar 1996.

Subfamily: Mimosoideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 2.5.13C.
Tribe: Ingeae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 3 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 7.5–14 cm long (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); 1.3–2.8 cm wide (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); 0.1–0.2 cm thick; 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; oblong (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); not inflated; compressed (Barneby and Grimes, 1996); with beak (2–3 mm long); straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; rounded 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; chartaceous (Nielsen, 1992cNielsen, 1992c:
Nielsen IC. 1992c. Paraserianthes. In W.J.J.O. de Wilde, H.P. Nooteboom, and C. Klakman, eds., Flora Malesiana 11(1):148&-154. Foundation Flora Malesiana, Leiden, The Netherlands.; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with thickened sutural areas, or wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 1; wing(s) 1.5–3 mm wide (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture (along the ventral suture, Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); stipitate, or substipitate; with the stipe 4–8 mm long (Barneby and Grimes, 1996); with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; passive (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996). Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; greenish brown, or green (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996), or tan; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate, or glabrous (Nielsen, 1992c; Barneby and Grimes, 1996); with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; puberulent (Nielsen, 1992c); with pubescence brown to tan; pubescence denser near sutures, sparser centrally (Barneby and Grimes, 1996Barneby and Grimes, 1996:
Albizia, and allies. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 1&-292. ); with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; transversely veined relative to fruit length and 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; dull; opaque; monochrome; white; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; with wing(s) extending into epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 10–15 (Barneby and Grimes, 1996Barneby and Grimes, 1996:
Albizia, and allies. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 1&-292. ); length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 4–5 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight and S-curved (at seed end), or straight and curved (at seed end), or plicate. Aril absent.

Seed: 6–8 mm long; 3–4 mm wide; 1–1.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; elliptic, or oblong; compressed; 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; olive green to brown; glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram present; 95–98 %. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines present; reticulate. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split (assumed); larger than punctiform; 0.4–0.5 mm long; with curved outline; circular to elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; flush; within halo; halo darker than testa. Lens discernible; 0.4–0.5 mm long; with margins curved; elliptic; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.1–0.2 mm from hilum; mounded; dissimilar color from testa; lighter than testa; white; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces flat; 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; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis parallel; parallel 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 well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Moluccas, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Queensland, Australia, and one species culitvated in the New World, F. moluccana (F.A.W. Miquel) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes.

Old World; Indonesia and the Philippines, New Guinea, Pacific, and Australia (Queensland, also Moluccas, New Guinea, Solomn Islands).

New World crop (F. moluccana (F.A.W. Miquel) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes).
 

Generic Notes

Barneby and Grimes (1996) elevated Nielsen's Paraserianthes (2.5.14) sect. Falcataria I.C. Nielsen to generic rank thereby making Paraserianthes monotypic. Their species count and distribution were used, and their desciption of the genus covers only New World cultivated specimens. Nielsen (1992c) described the genus as Paraserianthes falcataria (C. Linnaeus) I.C. Nielsen for Flora Malesiana, and was also used to supplement the data.