Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.12.06.
Tribe: Psoraleeae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 3 studied; 3 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 0.6–1 cm long; 0.3–0.5 cm wide; 0.2–0.25 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 longer than fruit, or shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture; widest near middle or D-shaped; barely inflated, or not inflated; compressed; without beak; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base differing in texture; upper 3/4 barely inflated, reticulate, and pubescent and lower 1/4 not inflated, reticulate, or pubescent; chartaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; nonstipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; pilose; with pubescence golden; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; glandular; with glandular dots; limited to a portion of fruit; upper 3/4 glandular and lower 1/4 eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined, or not veined; transversely veined relative to fruit length; 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; tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1; length parallel with fruit length. Funiculus less than 1 mm long; thick; straight. Aril absent.
Seed: 5.5–6.7 mm long; 3.5–3.7 mm wide; 2–2.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical (except for hilum); elliptic; compressed; 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; glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or streaked; with frequent streaks; dark reddish brown; with brown overlay (broad bands of darker); glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with recessed features; pitted with small separate pits (some seeds with numerous pits and other seeds with few to no pits H. strobilina (J.W. Hooker & G.A. Arnott) G.A.W. Rydberg); coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible (with conspicuous light tan rim); with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; punctiform; marginal according to radicle tip; recessed; within rim; rim color of testa to lighter than testa. Lens not discernible. 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 in radicle tissue; without margins recessed; yellow; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis deflexed; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length; centered between cotyledons; 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed; glabrous.
Tribe Psoraleeae
Stirton (1981) illustrated seeds and fruits of Amorpheae and Psoraleeae. Since Isely (1962) monographed the tribe for north-central United States the spelling of the tribe name has changed as well as the genera recognized in the tribe. Amorpha (6.04), Dalea (6.08) and Petalostemon A. Michaux (now part of Dalea) are now in the Amphoreae (6), and species in the remaining genus, Psoralea (12.09), have been assigned to several genera treated here. Grimes (1990) noted that this tribe "has been described as having indehiscent fruits. However, in many North American species the fruit is secondarily dehiscent (that is, not along sutures) by transverse rupture of the pod." This technically is not dehiscence.
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
