Neorudolphia

Taxonomy

Neorudolphia N.L. Britton In N. L. Britton et P. Wilson, Scient. Surv. Porto Rico 5: 426. 10 Jun 1924.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.10.10.
Tribe: Phaseoleae.
Subtribe: Erythrininae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 6–12 cm long; 1–1.7 cm wide; 0.5 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; linear; not inflated; compressed; without beak; tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves twisting. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; puberulent; with pubescence golden; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs (straight); pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; smooth; not veined; not tuberculate; exfoliating in part; with cracks; cracking oblique to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thin; surface uniformly veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without reniform canals; solid; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; mottled; tan; with mottling over seed chambers; with brown overlay; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; exfoliating in part; partially separating from mesocarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 11; length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 1–2 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; straight, or triangular. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril and tongue-aril; entire; covering less than 1/2 of seed; brown.

Seed: 7–12 mm long; 4.5–7 mm wide; 3.8–6.5 mm thick; not overgrown; angular, or not angular; symmetrical; elliptic; terete to quadrangular; 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; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or mottled; with frequent mottles; reddish brown; with brown overlay (dark); glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible; from hilum to near base of seed and terminating; not bifurcating; color of testa; raised. Hilum present; partially concealed; concealed by aril; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 1.4–2 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; raised; within rim; rim color darker than testa. 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; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan; 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; triangular; lobe tip straight; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

West Indies.

New World; West Indies.

Generic Notes

Lackey (1981) noted that Neorudolphia is a segregate genus of Rhodopsis (10.09). Their fruits and seeds are similar.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Phaseoleae

Bruneau et al. (1995) carried out cladistic analyses of tribe Phaseoleae using chloroplast DNA restriction site data. Their results indicated that the tribe is not monophyletic and that the tribal delimitations between Phaseoleae and Desmodieae (11) and between Phaseoleae and Millettieae (7) are problematic.