Normandiodendron

Taxonomy

Normandiodendron J.J.G. Léonard Bull. Jard. Bot. Belg. 62: 446. 30 Sep 1993.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.4.08A.
Tribe: Detarieae.
Group: Cynometra.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 6–12 cm long; 2.5–4 cm wide; 0.5–1 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; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; elliptic, or oblong; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture; widest near middle or D-shaped to widest near apex; not inflated; flattened; without beak; long tapered at apex (or only on one side in fruits with one margin straight from base to apex); aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base to rounded 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 visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate (to nearly stipitate); with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures (initially along one margin); apical and down; active; with valves enrolling. Replum invisible. Epicarp glossy; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; rugose; exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; with fibers on thin solid or embedded in mealy tissue over solid layer; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown; under the seeds smooth and scurfy (around the seeds); without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–7; length oblique to fruit length to transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–2 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight to curved. Aril absent.

Seed: 15–20 mm long; 9–15 mm wide; 3–7 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; oblong, or irregular (with one hooked margin); 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; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; bichrome; reddish brown and black (margins and faces, respectively); glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; rugose (especially on face); coriaceous. 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; 0.1–2.5 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of 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; completely concealing radicle, or partially concealing radicle (only tip exposed); notched at radicle and split over radicle; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; 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; centered between cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Guineo-Congolian forest, in Gabon, Cabinda, and Zaire.

Old World; Africa (Guineo-Congolian forest, in Gabon, Cabinda, and Zaire).

Generic Notes

LÉonard (1993) segregated two species from Leonardoxa (1.4.07), L. bequaertii (E.A.J. De Wildeman) A. Aubréville and L. romii (E.A.J. De Wildeman) A. Aubréville, and placed them in the new genus Normandiodendron. Brouat et al. (2001) constructed a molecular phylgeny for Leonardoxa and Noramandiodendron and the related genera Brachystegia (1.4.76), Hymenostegia (1.4.09), and Loesenera (1.4.10). They concluded: 1) Noramandiodendron is distinct from Leonardoxa; 2) Leonardoxa is monotypic; and, 3) the morphological and molecular clades are not congruent, suggesting "the possibility of gene flow or introgressive events between parapatric subspecies".

Tribal Notes

Tribe Detarieae

Bruneau et al. (2000) carried out extensive phylogenetic analyses of tribes Amherstieae and Detarieae. They concluded that they form a single monophyletic group. Therefore, they supported Polhill's (1995a, 1995b) decision to unite the two tribes.