Poitea

Taxonomy

Poitea É.P. Ventenat Mém. Cl. Sci. Math. Inst. Natl. France 1807(1): 16. Jul 1807.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.8.05.
Tribe: Robinieae.
Group: Gliricidia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 9 studied; 12 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; 2–11 cm long; 0.3–0.8 cm wide; 0.1–0.3 cm thick; more than 9 times longer than wide, or 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; slightly curved, or straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; linear, or oblong; with both sutures nearly straight, or both sutures unequally curved; not inflated; flattened, or compressed; without beak; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base, or tapered at base, or short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit (slightly); with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose, or torulose; margin not constricted, or constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate, or nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves twisting (or rarely, loosely). Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; reddish brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth, or smooth (rarely); with elevated features; not veined, or veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; wrinkled (obliquely); not exfoliating, or exfoliating in part; without cracks, or with cracks; cracking oblique to fruit length (across each seed chamber), or transverse to fruit length; 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; solid, or vitriol (granules); coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan, or green; below seeds smooth and scurfy (sometimes around seeds); without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate, or nonseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible, or thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; coriaceous, or chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–24; length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; triangular, or flattened; straight. Aril absent, or present; dry; when dry tongue-aril; entire; tan.

Seed: 3–5 mm long; 2.5–4.5 mm wide; 0.8–1.5 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; circular, or ovate, or rectangular, or reniform, or obovate, or oblong; compressed (rarely to subcircular); with surface smooth; without visible radicle and cotyledon lobes, or with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes, or with external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes; with external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes same color as testa; 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; glossy, or dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or bichrome (outer margin darker than inner face like a pseudopleurogram); dark reddish brown; glabrous; smooth; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible (or barely so), or not visible; from hilum to lens, or lens to base of seed and terminating, or hilum through lens to base of seed and bifurcating; not bifurcating, or bifurcating at base of seed with each arm going up antiraphe side turning (U-shaped) down and approaching bifurcation; darker than testa (or barely so); dark reddish brown, or black; flush, or recessed. Hilum present; visible, or partially concealed, or fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; punctiform, or larger than punctiform; 0.5 mm long; with curved outline; circular; apical at apex of radicle tip, or between cotyledon and radicle lobe, or marginal according to radicle tip; recessed; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible (or barely so), or not discernible; 0.5 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; linear, or oblong, or irregular; oblong, or irregular; not in groove of raphe; 180 degrees from hilum (to 270 degrees), or confluent with hilum; mounded to flush; similar color as testa, or dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa, or lighter than testa; dark reddish brown, or black; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to testa, or embryo. 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; not concealing radicle, or partially concealing radicle; entire over radicle, or split over radicle; with lobes, or without lobes; with lobes not touching; without basal groin formed by lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; greenish to reddish tan, or green, or brown (reddish); 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; linear, or bulbose; lobe tip straight; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon width, or deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons, or 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed, or rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Greater Antilles, and the island of Dominica.

New World; West Indies (Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles).

Generic Notes

Lavin (1993) monographed Poitea, and our species count is from his monograph, not Polhill and Sousa (1981). Lavin reduced Corynella, Notodon, Sabinea, and Sauvallela to synonyms under Poitea.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Robinieae

The genera, generic groups, and related data follow the tribal treatment of Lavin and Sousa (1995; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b), not Polhill and Sousa (1981).