Griffonia

Taxonomy

Griffonia H.E. Baillon Adansonia 6: 188. 7 Oct 1865.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.3.03.
Tribe: Cercideae.
Subtribe: Cercidinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 4 studied; 4 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 5–8 cm long; 2–4 cm wide; 1.5–1.7 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; asymmetrical; irregularly oblong; not inflated; compressed; without beak; tapered at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base to truncate at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally faintly visible, or invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 6–50 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures (along dorsal then ventral margins); medial and up and down; active; with valves enrolling ("involute"). Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; black; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; 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; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; glossy; opaque; monochrome; blackish brown to yellow (golden); without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–3; length oblique to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 8–12 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 12–23 mm long; 12–20 mm wide; 4–5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; circular; 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; black; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; rugose and shagreen; 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; length not stated,; with straight outline; oblong; apical at apex of radicle tip; recessed ("depressed"); not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 1 mm long (diam); with margins curved; circular; not in groove of raphe; mounded; same color as testa (color of testa though not shagreen and on same side of hilum as micropyle); 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; partially concealing radicle; with lobes; with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Generic Notes

Wunderlin et al. (1981) reported that Griffonia is neither closely related to Cercis nor Adenolobus, the other two genera in the subtribe. "The long gynophore (stipe) is adnate to the abaxial wall of the hypanthium" and along with the "style are obliquely attached to the mature ovary giving the fruit a lopsided appearance. Some species have inflated fruits which is a character unique in the tribe".