Leucochloron

Taxonomy

Leucochloron R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 130. 25 Mar 1996.

Subfamily: Mimosoideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 2.5.11B.
Tribe: Ingeae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 4 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 7–22 cm long; 1.7–3.2 cm wide; 0.4–0.8 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with deciduous calyx; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; curved to straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; falcate, or oblong; with both sutures parallelly curved; not inflated; flattened; with beak (short), or without beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; 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; coriaceous, or chartaceous; seed chambers externally faintly visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin not constricted, or constricted; margin constricted along both margins, or slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin embellished, or plain; margin with thickened sutural areas (Leucochloron limae R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes), or wing(s) (Leucochloron incuriale (J.M. da C. Vellozo) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes); wing(s) absent, or present (Leucochloron incuriale (J.M. da C. Vellozo) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes); wing(s) 4; wing(s) ca. 1 mm wide; wing(s) valvular (1–2 mm from the sutures); wing(s) on both valves; nonstipitate, or substipitate; with the stipe 1–5 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures (remaining attached to sutures), or 1 suture; apical and down; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dark brown to brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent but soon deciduous, or glabrate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; velutinous, or puberulent; with pubescence brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs (straight); pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; faintly 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 present; thin; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; fibrous throughout; chartaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; gray, or tan; short hairy (Leucochloron limae R.C. Barneby and J.W. Grimes), or smooth (Leucochloron incuriale (J.M. da C. Vellozo)R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes); without adhering pieces of testa; with hairs scattered over endocarp; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) (3–)7–10; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching, or overlapping; in 1 series. Funiculus 8–10 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; plicate. Aril absent.

Seed: 9–23 mm long (Barneby and Grimes, 1996Barneby and Grimes, 1996:
Albizia, and allies. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 1&-292. ); 7–23 mm wide (Barneby and Grimes, 1996); 1–2 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; sub circular, or oblong; compressed; with surface smooth; 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; brown; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features, or recessed features; rugose; punctate; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim present; wing-like around seed. Wing(s) present; continuous around seed (winglike rim about 1 mm wide and darker than body). Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible, or fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; punctiform, or larger than punctiform; ca. 0.4 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; raised, or flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces flat; 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; notched at radicle; with lobes; with lobes overlapping; with basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; bulbose; lobe tip straight; straight with embryonic axis; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Southeastern Brazil, "Atlantic and planatine Brazil, from northeastern Bahia south to Paraná, inland to montane Minas Gerais, and to Distrito Federal" (Barneby and Grimes, 1996).

New World; South America (Southeastern Brazil, "Atlantic and planatine Brazil, from northeastern Bahia south to Paraná, inland to montane Minas Gerais, and to Distrito Federal" [Barneby and Grimes, 1996]); Brazil.
 

Generic Notes

Barneby and Grimes (1996) described Leucochloron to accomodate three species of Pithecolobium (2.5.11), L. foederale (R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes, L. incuriale (J.M. da C. Vellozo) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes, and L. minarum (H.A.T. Harms) R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes, and one new species, L. limae R.C. Barneby & J.W. Grimes. Their presentation of the new genus is also a monograph of the genus. They suggested that two incomplete collections may represent two additional new species, one from near Barreiras in the São Francisco valley, western Bahia, Brazil, and the other from the state of Guárico, Venezuela (Río Tamanaco, H.M. Curran 703, NY). Their accepted species number, four, and distribution are used.