Kanaloa

Taxonomy

Kanaloa D.H. Lorence & K.R. Wood Novon 4: 137. 15 Jun 1994.

Subfamily: Mimosoideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 2.3.30A.
Tribe: Mimoseae.
Group: Leucaena.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 2.5–4 cm long; 1.8–3 cm wide; 0.2–0.5 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; elliptic, or ovate; not inflated; compressed; with beak, or without beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; rounded at apex, or short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base to short tapered at base, or rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous; seed chambers externally visible, or invisible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 5–10 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; tan; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; puberulent; with pubescence tan; with pubescence uniformly distributed (slightly denser near base); with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; transversely veined relative to fruit length to 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; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; spongy; chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown to tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1; length parallel with fruit length. Funiculus 2–3 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 1.1–1.6 mm long; 1–1.3 mm wide; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; cordate; compressed; with surface smooth; without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; with deep 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; dark brown; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; wrinkled. Pleurogram present; 95 %. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; without faboid split; larger than punctiform.

Distribution

Generic Notes

This monotypic genus is endemic to Kaho'Olawe island in the Hawaiian Islands where only two plants are known (Lorence and Wood, 1994). Very few seeds have been found, and they have all been germinated in an attempt to propagate the genus at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawaii (D.H. Lorence, pers. comm. 1999). Consequently only two fruits and photographs of seeds were available for study.