Rhodopis

Taxonomy

Rhodopis I. Urban Nom. cons. Symb. Antill. 2: 304. 20 Oct 1900.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.10.09.
Tribe: Phaseoleae.
Subtribe: Erythrininae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied, or 2 studied; 1 in genus, or 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; 11–15 cm long; 1.2–1.7 cm wide; 0.3–0.4 cm thick; more than 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, or curved (slightly); not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; essentially linear; with both sutures parallelly curved; not inflated; flattened; without beak; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base; oblique 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 enrolling. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; dirty brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent but soon deciduous; with hairs appressed; with 1 type of pubescence; with pubescence brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; faintly veined; irregularly veined; not tuberculate; wrinkled; 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; solid; coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; brown, or tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; exfoliating in part (between seed chambers); remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 11–18; length oblique to fruit length; touching, or neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 1.5–2 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; slightly curved, or triangular. Aril present; dry; when dry 2-lipped rim-aril; fimbriate; covering less than 1/2 of seed; with tongues (or flap) on lips of 2-lipped rim-aril; with 1 tongue or flap on 1 lip of 2-lipped rim-aril; tan.

Seed: 4 mm long; 3.5 mm wide; 1.8 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; irregular; 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; monochrome; brown; glabrous; smooth; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 1.4 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; recessed; within rim; rim color darker than testa. Lens discernible; 0.5 mm long; with margins straight; linear; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; flush; similar color as testa; darker than testa; within halo; halo color darker than testa. 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 right angled; perpendicular to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear; lobe tip curved; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon width; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

West Indies.

New World; West Indies.

Generic Notes

Lackey (1981) recognized one species in the genus, but is a species in Haiti, Rhodopis planisiliqua I. Urban, different from a species known only from the type locality in the Dominican Republic, R. lowdenii W.S. Judd? This question will have to be addressed by someone else, because the United States Postal Service will not accept my written loan request to Correspondent Yves Polynice (EHH) in Damien, Haiti. Our observations were made only from limited material of R. lowdenii and some immature fruits of R. planisiliqua. Thomas Zanoi (JBSD) supplied the loan of R. lowdenii. Neorudolphia (10.10) was recognized as a segregate of Rhodopis (Lackey, 1981); 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.