Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.2.16.
Tribe: Sophoreae.
Group: Ormosia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 5–9.5 cm long; 4–5 cm wide; 0.9–1 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width; 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; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; obliquely obovate; with both sutures unequally curved; not inflated; flattened; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with upper sutural ridge(s) and thickened sutural areas (lower suture); wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 5–8 mm long; with all layers dehiscing (from literature); splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; multicolored; mottled; brown; with brown overlay (lighter and darker); mottling color combination variable; 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; thin; surface not veined; 3-layered; with balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; with solid layer over 2 distinct solid layers; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan; fibrous; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1; length oblique to fruit length. Funiculus ca. 5 mm long; filiform; slightly S-curved. Aril absent.
Seed: 38 mm long; 18 mm wide; 7 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; elliptic; compressed; with surface wrinkled; 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; transparently colored; monochrome; brown; glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible; from hilum through lens to base of seed and terminating; not bifurcating; darker than testa; dark brown; raised. Hilum present; partially concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 3–4 mm long; with curved outline; fusiform; subapical to radicle tip; recessed; within rim; rim color darker than testa. Lens not discernible. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons not smooth; wrinkled; 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; completely concealing radicle; split over radicle; with lobes; with lobes touching (auriculate); with basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; brown; inner face flat; pubescent on inner face; pubescent around base of radicle. Embryonic axis oblique; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; triangular; lobe tip straight; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule well developed; pubescent.
Tribe Sophoreae
Polhill (1981b) stated that the Sophoreae s.l. is a tribe of convenience between the Caesalpinioideae and the bulk of the Papilionoideae, sharply defined from neither. He transferred four genera from Sophoreae into the Swartzieae (1), Amburana (3.1.15), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14), and Holocalyx (3.1.12), following Herendeen's (1995) cladistic analyses. Herendeen performed cladistic analyses for all Swartzieae genera, sensu Cowan (1981), 19 Sophoreae genera, and three Caesalpinioideae genera. He concluded that Swartzieae is polyphyletic and that it should be disbanded and its genera transferred to Sophoreae. Preliminary rbcL data (Doyle et al. 1997) supported his conclusions.
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
