Pictetia

Taxonomy

Pictetia A.P. de Candolle Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 4: 93. Jan 1825.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.14.05.
Tribe: Aeschynomeneae.
Subtribe: Ormocarpinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 8 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume, or a loment (or a loment segment); unilocular; 0.5–7.5 cm long; 0.2–1 cm wide; 0.09–0.2 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx, or deciduous calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight to curved (to slightly curved); not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; broadly linear to oblong; with both sutures parallelly curved; not inflated; flattened to compressed; without beak; short tapered at apex to rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base to rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally visible, or invisible; 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, or substipitate, or nonstipitate; with the stipe 1–13 mm long; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Loment indehiscent; segments (articles) inconspicuous; segments (articles) 7–10 mm long; segments (articles) widest across seed area; segments (articles) with all essentially similar in shape; segments (articles) oblong. Epicarp dull to glossy; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate, or glabrous; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence, or 2 types of pubescence; puberulent; with pubescence gray; with simple hairs and glandular hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; glandular, or eglandular; with glandular hairs; distributed over entire fruit, or limited to a portion of fruit; upper 2/3 glandular and lower 1/3 eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; longitudinally veined relative to fruit length, or reticulately veined; tuberculate, or not tuberculate; with solid tubercles on each valve; tuberculate; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thin; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; mealy, or spongy; chartaceous, or coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown, or tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; septate, or nonseptate; with septa thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous, or coriaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–6; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; thick; contorted, or straight. Aril present, or absent; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; tan.

Seed: 2.5–5.3 mm long; 2.5–3.2 mm wide; 0.3–0.6 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; C-shaped, or circular (with radicle lobe); flattened; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes (to barely so); without external groove between 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, or glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; tan; glabrous; smooth; chartaceous, or coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by aril, or funicular remnant; without faboid split (visible); punctiform; marginal according to radicle tip, or between cotyledon and radicle lobe; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible, or not discernible; with margins straight, or curved; oblong; oblong; not in groove of raphe; 180 degrees from hilum; flush; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; black (ish); not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present, or absent; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to testa. 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, or not concealing radicle; split over radicle; with lobes; with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; tan, or white; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis deflexed; 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; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length, or deflexed and parallel to cotyledon width; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed, or well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

West Indies.

New World; West Indies.

Generic Notes

Beyra and Lavin (1999) monographed the genus. After extensive phylogenetic analyses utilizing both morphologyl and DNA, they concluded that Pictetia and Belairia A. Richard (3.14.04) are synonymous and that the oldest name for the synonymized genus is Pictetia. The fruit and seed data supports separation of the two genera. Belairia had the mesocarp spongy and coriaceous, endocarp brown and chartaceous, funiculus straight, aril absent, seed 2.5–4 mm long, 2.5–2.7 mm wide, 0.456–0.78 mm thick, and circular, testa dull and chartaceous, hilum concealed by funicular remnant and marginal according to radicle tip, lens not discernible, endosperm absent, cotyledons not concealing radicle and tan, radicle bulbose, and plumule well developed; and, Pictetia, sensu stricto, had the mesocarp mealy and chartaceous, endocarp tan and coriaceous, funiculus contorted, aril present, seed 5–5.3 mm long, 3–3.2 mm wide, 0.3–0.4 mm thick, and C-shaped, testa glossy and coriaceous, hilum concealed by aril and between cotyledon and radicle lobe, lens discernible, endosperm present, cotyledons partially concealing radicle and white, radicle linear, and plumule moderately developed. Beyra and Lavin's distribution and species count were used.

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.