Fiebrigiella

Taxonomy

Fiebrigiella H.A.T. Harms Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 42: 95. 28 Jul 1908.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.14.06.
Tribe: Aeschynomeneae.
Subtribe: Ormocarpinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A loment (or a loment segment); 3–3.1 cm long; 0.3–0.4 cm wide; 0.08–0.1 cm thick; more than 9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx, or deciduous calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight to curved (slightly); not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture; narrowing in several places, resembling Desmodium (3.11.09) fruit; not inflated; flattened; without beak; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base to short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin constricted; margin constricted only on 1 margin; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Loment indehiscent; segments (articles) inconspicuous; segments (articles) 5–6 mm long; segments (articles) widest across seed area; segments (articles) with all essentially similar in shape; segments (articles) D-shaped. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dirty brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent but soon deciduous; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; puberulent; with pubescence golden; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined (with 1 major vein and 1 minor longitudinal vein); not tuberculate; 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; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; glossy; opaque; monochrome; tan; spongy; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; with septa thicker than paper, firm; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 2–4; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; reddish brown.

Seed: 4.2–5 mm long; 2.5–3 mm wide; 0.7–1 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; D-shaped; flattened; 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; reddish brown; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; wrinkled (1 longitudinal wrinkle); chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; partially concealed; concealed by aril (rim); without faboid split; punctiform; marginal according to radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; with margins curved; circular; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 1 mm from hilum; mounded; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; black (ish); not within corona, halo, or rim. 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; not concealing radicle; split over 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; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Bolivia.

New World; South America (Bolivia); the Guianas and Peru.

Generic Notes

Burkart and Vilchez (1971) monographed the genus, and their figure 2 was consulted in preparing our plate. Scant seeds and fruits were available for our study.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Aeschynomeneae

Rudd (1981a) recognized four subtribes of Aeschynomeneae: Ormocarpinae V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.01–3.14.08), Aeschynomeninae (genera 3.14.09–3.14.16), Discolobinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genus 3.14.17: Discolobium), Poiretiinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.18–3.14.21), and Stylosanthinae (G. Bentham) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.22–13.4.26). Tribal and subtribal placement of Diphysa is based on Lavin (1987; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b), and not on Polhill and Sousa (1981), who placed Diphysa in Robinieae. Bailey et al. (1997), using the chloroplast rpl2 intron and ORF184, suggested that Brya (11.01), Cranocarpus (11.02), Phylacium (11.22), and Neocollettia (11.26) are not members of Desmodieae (11) and that they probably belong in Aeschynomeneae.