Peltiera

Taxonomy

Peltiera D.J. Du Puy & J.-N. Labat In J.-N. Labat et D. J. Du Puy, Adansonia ser. 3. 19: 88. 10 Jun 1997.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.14.02A.
Tribe: Aeschynomeneae.
Subtribe: Ormocarpinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 0 studied; 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 1.5–2.1 cm long; 0.7–0.9 cm wide; 1.4–1.8 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; curved, or straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; oblanceolate, or elliptic (quase); not inflated; compressed; without beak; short tapered at apex, or rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base, or rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; leathery, or coriaceous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 5–25 mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; smooth; not veined; not tuberculate; not exfoliating; without cracks. Seed(s) 1. Aril present; fleshy; white.

Seed: Ca. 12 mm long; 8–9 mm wide; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; elliptic; compressed.

Distribution

Madagascar.

Old World; Madagascar.

Generic Notes

Neither fruits nor seeds were available for study. Data was extracted from the original descriptions of the genus and its species and The Leguminosae of Madagascar (Labat and Du Puy, 1997; Du Puy et al., 2002). Labat and Du Puy (1997) "suggest that this genus is in critical danger, and may even be already extinct in Madagascar. This could be the first example of a modern genus which is described after it has become extinct." The seed is reported to be enclosed in a white fleshy structure, but it could not be observed in dried herbarium specimens (Labat and Du Puy, 1997; Du Puy et al., 2002).

Tribal Notes

Tribe Aeschynomeneae

Rudd (1981a) recognized four subtribes of Aeschynomeneae: Ormocarpinae V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.01–3.14.08), Aeschynomeninae (genera 3.14.09–3.14.16), Discolobinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genus 3.14.17: Discolobium), Poiretiinae (A.E. Burkart) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.18–3.14.21), and Stylosanthinae (G. Bentham) V.E. Rudd (genera 3.14.22–13.4.26). Tribal and subtribal placement of Diphysa is based on Lavin (1987; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b), and not on Polhill and Sousa (1981), who placed Diphysa in Robinieae. Bailey et al. (1997), using the chloroplast rpl2 intron and ORF184, suggested that Brya (11.01), Cranocarpus (11.02), Phylacium (11.22), and Neocollettia (11.26) are not members of Desmodieae (11) and that they probably belong in Aeschynomeneae.