Martiodendron

Taxonomy

Martiodendron H.A. Gleason Phytologia 1: 141. 21 Jan 1935.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.2.12.
Tribe: Cassieae.
Subtribe: Dialiinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 4 studied; 4 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 7–17 cm long; 3–8 cm wide; 1–2 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; straight; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; oblong, or elliptic; not inflated; flattened; without beak; long tapered 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; ligneous; seed chambers externally visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 2 (?); wing(s) 3–12 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on both sutures; nonstipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; purplish red, or tan; with surface texture uniform; glabrous to pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with simple hairs; 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; surface not veined; 1-layered (?); without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; longitudinally fibrous throughout; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; glossy; opaque; monochrome; brown; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1; length parallel with fruit length. Funiculus 0.1–12 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; near seed plicate, or straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 40–45 mm long; 18–20 mm wide; 2–4 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; oblong; flattened; 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; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 0.1–0.8 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; subapical to radicle tip; raised; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. 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; notched at radicle (and lobes); with lobes (one lobe longer than the other); with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Southern Venezuela, The Guianas, and Brazil.

New World; South America (Southern Venezuela, the Guianas, and Brazil); Brazil and Ecuador.

Generic Notes

An open micropyle is located on the shoulder of a lenslike mound. Koeppen (1967) described the endocarp as "unilocular and occupying almost all the fruit, but with transverse 'septae' developing as seeds mature." I was unable to confirm this observation, because I dissected only one-seeded (some two-ovuled) fruits.