Mendoravia

Taxonomy

Mendoravia R.P.R. Capuron Adansonia ser. 2. 8: 208. 27 Sep 1968.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.2.09.
Tribe: Cassieae.
Subtribe: Dialiinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 3.5–9 cm long; 1.1–2.5 cm wide; 0.2–0.4 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; not inflated; compressed; with beak, or without beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; long tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally partially visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 1; wing(s) 0.1–0.6 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture (ventral); nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures (apically, ventrally and then dorsally); apical and down; active; with valves enrolling. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; 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; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; greenish yellow; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–4 (when only 2 then in lower half of fruit; when 3–4 then in upper half of fruit; Du Puy et al. (2002) reported only 1 or 2 seeds in fruit); length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–2 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; triangular. Aril absent.

Seed: 8–10 mm long; 6–8 mm wide; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; nearly circular, or ovate; 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; red-brown or brown; glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines present; reticulate. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 0.1–1 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. Endosperm present; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle. 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; slightly partially concealing radicle; with lobes; 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; slightly oblique to length of seed to parallel 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

Southeastern Madagascar.

Old World; southeastern Madagascar.

Generic Notes

No mature seeds were studied, Only immature seeds that are tear-dropped shaped and the figures in Capuron (1968). The descriptions of Du Puy et al. (2002) were used to improve the fruit and seed data.