Kotschya

Taxonomy

Kotschya S.F.L. Endlicher In Endlicher et Fenzl, Nov. Stirp. Decades 1: 4. 1 Mai 1839.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.14.11.
Tribe: Aeschynomeneae.
Subtribe: Aeschynomeninae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 7 studied; ca. 30 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A loment (or a loment segment); 0.2–3.9 cm long (see Notes); 0.2–0.4 cm wide; 0.15 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width, or 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with persistent corolla; with standard petal; with persistent calyx; with calyx longer than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; plicate (see Notes); not twisted; asymmetrical; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture; narrowing in several places, resembling Desmodium (3.11.09) fruit; not inflated; compressed; without beak; rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin constricted; margin constricted only on 1 margin; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Loment indehiscent; segments (articles) inconspicuous; segments (articles) 2–6 mm long; segments (articles) widest across seed area; segments (articles) with all essentially similar in shape; segments (articles) D-shaped. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown (including reddish), or tan; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 2 types of pubescence; pilose; with pubescence gray and yellow; with golden hooked hairs and gray plain hairs; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases swollen, or plain; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; tuberculate (bases of hairs); 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; septate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–9; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; yellow.

Seed: 2–4.7 mm long; 1.2–3 mm wide; 0.5–1.7 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; elliptic, or circular (sub), or reniform (to ellipsoid-reniform), or triangular; compressed; with 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; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; reddish black, or brown (reddish or gray), or green, or yellow; glabrous; smooth; osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; punctiform; between cotyledon and radicle lobe; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.5 mm long; with margins straight; linear; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; less than 0.5 mm from hilum; recessed; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; black; 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, or not concealing radicle; split over radicle; with lobes; with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; red; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis deflexed; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear; lobe tip straight, or curved; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Tropical Africa and Madagascar.

Old World; tropical Africa to Madagascar.

Generic Notes

Verdcourt (1974) described 19 species from Zambia and noted that if the fruit is composed of several articles then the fruit is "folded like a concertina." Upon opening the calyx, the fruit disarticulates making length measurements difficult. Our fruit length range is based on maximum and minimum number of articles multiplied by the maximum and minimum article lengths.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Aeschynomeneae

Rudd (1981a) recognized four subtribes of Aeschynomeneae: Ormocarpinae V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.01–3.14.08), Aeschynomeninae (genera 3.14.09–3.14.16), Discolobinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genus 3.14.17: Discolobium), Poiretiinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.18–3.14.21), and Stylosanthinae (G. Bentham) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.22–13.4.26). Tribal and subtribal placement of Diphysa is based on Lavin (1987; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b), and not on Polhill and Sousa (1981), who placed Diphysa in Robinieae. Bailey et al. (1997), using the chloroplast rpl2 intron and ORF184, suggested that Brya (11.01), Cranocarpus (11.02), Phylacium (11.22), and Neocollettia (11.26) are not members of Desmodieae (11) and that they probably belong in Aeschynomeneae.