Sakoanala

Taxonomy

Sakoanala R. Viguier Notul. Syst. (Paris) 14: 186. Nov 1951.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.2.35.
Tribe: Sophoreae.
Group: Sophora.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; (4–)5–15 cm long; 1.3–3 cm wide; 0.1–0.2 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; straight; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical, or asymmetrical (slightly); fusiform, or falcate, or linear (or nearly so); with both sutures parallelly curved; not inflated; flattened; without beak, or with beak; straight, or hooked; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; rounded at apex, or tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous; seed chambers externally slightly visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin not constricted, or constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin embellished, or plain; margin with wing(s); wing(s) present; wing(s) 1; wing(s) 1–2 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture; substipitate (usually concealed by the persistemt calyx); indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; bichrome (darker over seed chambers); brown; with brown overlay (darker); with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; sparsely pilose; with pubescence golden; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; glandular; with glandular dots; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; sometimes glandular dotted; not exfoliating, or exfoliating in part; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp, or separating from epicarp; with wing(s) extending into epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–7; length parallel with fruit length (observed), or transverse to fruit length (in literature); neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 1–2.5 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; tan.

Seed: (7–)10–11 mm long; (4.5–)6–7 mm wide; 2–3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; reniform; 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; glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; tan to 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 lighter colored than the rest of the hilum and therefore conspicuous; larger than punctiform; 1.2–1.8 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic to circular; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; recessed; within rim; rim color darker than testa. Lens discernible; 1.2 mm long; with margins curved; 2 oblong mounds separated by groove; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; mounded; same color as testa; brown; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm absent. Cotyledons smooth; 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; entire over radicle, or 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 oblique; oblique to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; bulbose; lobe tip straight; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Eastern and northeastern Madagascar.

Old World; Madagascar.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Sophoreae

Polhill (1981b) stated that the Sophoreae s.l. is a tribe of convenience between the Caesalpinioideae and the bulk of the Papilionoideae, sharply defined from neither. He transferred four genera from Sophoreae into the Swartzieae (1), Amburana (3.1.15), Ateleia (3.1.13), Cyathostegia (3.1.14), and Holocalyx (3.1.12), following Herendeen's (1995) cladistic analyses. Herendeen performed cladistic analyses for all Swartzieae genera, sensu Cowan (1981), 19 Sophoreae genera, and three Caesalpinioideae genera. He concluded that Swartzieae is polyphyletic and that it should be disbanded and its genera transferred to Sophoreae. Preliminary rbcL data (Doyle et al. 1997) supported his conclusions.