Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.16.10.
Tribe: Galegeae.
Subtribe: Astragalinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 2–4 cm long; 1–1.5 cm wide; 0.7–1 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width; 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, or obovate; inflated; compressed; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; short tapered at apex, or rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin with sulcus (on dorsal suture); margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; indehiscent, or with all layers dehiscing (tardily); splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along 1 suture; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; dark reddish brown, or tan, or black; with black overlay, or tan overlay; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined, or not veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; faintly wrinkled; 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; dull; opaque; mottled; tan; with mottling more or less uniform (dark); with brown overlay (reddish); smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; coriaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 4–5; length parallel with fruit length; overlapping; in 2 or more series. Funiculus 0.5–1.3 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; white.
Seed: 3–3.5 mm long; 2.4–2.8 mm wide; 1.4–2.3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; oblong, or reniform; compressed; with surface smooth; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes, or without 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; glossy, or dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or mottled; with frequent mottles; reddish to greenish brown, or orange, or tan, or green; with black overlay; glabrous; smooth; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 0.4 mm long; with curved outline; circular; marginal according to radicle tip, or between cotyledon and radicle lobe; recessed; within rim; rim color darker than testa. Lens discernible; 0.5 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; triangular, or irregular; irregular; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; barely mounded; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; black; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to testa. 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; entire over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; white, or tan (pale); inner face flat. Embryonic axis deflexed; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; bulbose; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary, or moderately developed; glabrous.
Tribe Galegeae
Traditionally this tribe has been called Galegeae. Reveal (1997) reported that the name Astragaleae was published before the name Galegeae. Following the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al., 1994), the oldest name for a taxon must be used, so Reveal suggested that this tribe should be called Astragaleae. In 1999 Reveal (1999) reversed himself, so that this tribe remains the Galegeae. Welsh (1960) reported on the Galegeae of north-central United States. Sanderson and Liston (1995) carried out cladistic analyses of Galegeae genera using molecular data. They concluded that Galegeae is paraphyletic having given rise to tribes Cicereae (20), Hedysareae (18), Trifolieae (21), and Fabeae (19), and therefore requiring a re-evaluation of the circumscription of Galegeae. Heenan (1995, 1998c), utilizing unpublished nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS data, concluded that "Carmichaelia (17.05) is nested within (the) 'Astragalean clade' of Galegeae" and is the sister group of Clianthus. He therefore supported the proposal of Sanderson and Wojciehowski (1996) that Carmichaelieae should not be recognized at tribal level, but rather included in Galegeae.
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
