Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.7.
Tribe: Millettieae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: ca. 27 studied; ca. 96 in genus.
Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 3.9–23 cm long; 0.6–4 cm wide; 0.3–3.5 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width, or 2–9 times longer than wide, or more than 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; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; linear, or oblanceolate, or obovate, or irregularly fusiform, or elliptic, or obliquely obovate; with both sutures parallelly curved, or both sutures unequally curved; inflated, or not inflated; compressed, or terete; without beak; blunt at apex to short tapered at apex to tapered at apex to long tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base, or tapered at base, or 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; coriaceous, or leathery, or ligneous; seed chambers externally visible, or invisible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers torulose, or not torulose; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin with sulcus, or without sulcus; margin plain, or embellished; margin with wing(s); wing(s) absent, or present (3 spp., Adema, pers. comm., 1998); wing(s) 2, or 4; wing(s) valvular (along the suture or parallel to it, but not on it; perpendicular to the plane through the sutures); wing(s) on both valves; stipitate, or substipitate, or nonstipitate; with the stipe (2–)5–20 mm long; with all layers dehiscing, or indehiscent (rarely); splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves twisting. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; tan to brown (dark); with brown overlay; mottling color combination variable; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or glabrate, or pubescent and indurate, or pubescent but soon deciduous; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; tomentose, or velutinous; with pubescence tan to brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; stiff; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; densely lenticular, or rugose, or verrucose-rugose, or wrinkled; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick, or thin; surface not veined; 1-layered, or 2-layered, or 3-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; with solid layer over solid layer; ligneous, or coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque to translucent; monochrome, or mottled; brown, or orange, or tan; with mottling more or less uniform; with brown overlay; fibrous, or scurfy, or smooth, or scurfy and smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; septate, or subseptate, or nonseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible, or thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous, or pulpy; exfoliating in part, or not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–8; length oblique to fruit length, or transverse to fruit length; touching, or neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 1–10 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened, or thick, or triangular; straight, or triangular. Aril present, or absent; dry; when dry hippocrepiform rim-aril and tongue-aril, or 2-lipped rim-aril, or partial rim-aril; entire; with tongues (or flap) on lips of 2-lipped rim-aril; with 1 tongue or flap on 1 lip of 2-lipped rim-aril, or 2 tongues or flaps, 1 on each lip of 2-lipped rim-aril; cream to tan.
Seed: 8–50 mm long; 6–35 mm wide; 1–25 mm thick; overgrown, 1 seed filling entire fruit cavity, or not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; oblong to ovate, or reniform, or irregular, or rhombic (irregularly); terete, or compressed, or flattened; with surface smooth, or wrinkled; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes, or without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes; with shallow hilar sinus, or 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; dull to glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; brown to black, or yellow; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; wrinkled; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent, or present; transverse. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible, or visible; from hilum through lens to base of seed and terminating; not bifurcating; color of testa, or lighter than testa; brown; slightly raised, or recessed (slightly). Hilum present; visible, or fully concealed, or partially concealed; concealed by radicle lobe, or funicular remnant; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 1–4 mm long; with curved outline; circular, or elliptic; subapical to radicle tip, or apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; raised, or flush, or recessed; within rim, or not within corona, halo, or rim; rim color darker than testa. Lens discernible; 1–2 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; linear to triangular, or oblong; circular; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; flush, or recessed; same color as testa, or similar color as testa; darker than testa; brown to black; not within corona, halo, or rim, or within rim; rim color of testa. Endosperm present, or absent; thin, or trace; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo, or covering at least 1/2 of embryo, but not entire embryo, or restricted to region of embryo; adnate to testa. Cotyledons smooth, or not smooth; wrinkled; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; both more or less of equal length; not folded, or with both folded; not sufficiently folded for inner face to touch itself; portions of inner folded face unequal; margin entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; similar at apex; partially concealing radicle; split over radicle, or notched at radicle; without lobes, or with lobes; with lobes touching (auriculate); with basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; brown, or orange, or white, or yellow, or tan; inner face flat, or concave; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis oblique, or right angled; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; bulbose, or linear; lobe tip straight; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons, or 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary to moderately developed; glabrous.
Geesink (1984) included both Hesperothamnus and Pongamia in Millettia. We recognized Hesperothamnus because neither he nor anyone else made the species transfers for the genus. Geesink (1984) noted that Peltier opined that Neodunnia R. Viguier should be a section of Millettia, but Geesink also stated that inflorescence differences should keep Neodunnia as a separate genus. Du Puy et al. (2002) also maintained it in Millettia, and we have chosen to follow them. Geesink noted for Neodunnia: pod dehiscent, thin or thick woody, flat, without wings; seed flat, lens-shaped; and, radicle folded (only young seeds observed). No material of Neodunnia was available for this study. Thothathri (1961) treated Pongamia É.P. Ventenat as distinct from Millettia, and it was included in Millettia by Geesink (1984). We have followed Geesink and included it in Millettia. Only immature fruits of Pongamia were seen. Wei (1985) revised the Chinese species of Millettia.
Tribe Millettieae
Geesink (1981) treated this tribe, as others before him, under the tribal name Tephroseae, but we now know that its correct name is Millettieae. Recent tribal studies (Geesink, 1981, 1984; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b) have arranged the genera in alphabetical order without phylogenetic numbers. Geesink (1984) monographed tribe Millettieae, and presented descriptive notes about fruits and seeds and in situ fruit and seed drawings. However, we are not entirely following Geesink (1984) for generic parameters because he either questioned the status of many of his new genera or did not make the necessary species transfers. The few new genera which he clearly recognized are being accepted. Lavin et al. (1998) developed a preliminary infratribal classification of six informal groups using phytochrome nucleotides: Millettia group, Lonchocarpus group, Derris group, Tephrosia group, "primitive" group, and Phaseoleae group. Lavin (1987) transferred Sphinctospermum to Millettieae. Lavin and Doyle (1991) carried out cladistic analyses integrating morphological and chloroplast DNA data, and concluded that it is a member of Robineae where we have placed it (now 8.12).
Authors: J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, A.L. Weitzman, M.J. Dallwitz, K.R. Thiele
Content last updated April 2003
Released April 2024 on idtools.org
