Scorpiurus

Taxonomy

Scorpiurus C. Linnaeus Sp. Pl. 744. 1 Mai 1753.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.13.14.
Tribe: Loteae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 2 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A lomentloment:
usually dry fruit derived from a single carpel that breaks transversely into one-seeded fruit segments
(or a lomentloment:
usually dry fruit derived from a single carpel that breaks transversely into one-seeded fruit segments
segment); 8 cm long; 0.3 cm wide; 0.3 cm thick; more than 9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with deciduous calyx; with orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments, or without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; 4-coiled; not plicate to plicate (at most loosely plicate); loosely to tightly twisted, or not twisted; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; linear; with both sutures nearly straight; not inflated; terete; without beak; long tapered at apex, or short tapered at apex; exceeding (crossing) longitudinal axis of fruit; long tapered at base to short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin constricted, or not constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; nonstipitate; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Lomentloment:
usually dry fruit derived from a single carpel that breaks transversely into one-seeded fruit segments
indehiscent; segments (articles) inconspicuous; segments (articles) 5–10 mm long; segments (articles) with all essentially similar in shape; segments (articles) curved. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; bichrome (spines may be darker colored than surface and ribs below spines may be darker colored); brown, or tan; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; with spines (aligned in longitudinal ribs), or without spines (longitudinal ribs present); with spines persistent; with spines same color as the rest of the fruit, or (or their basal remanent) a different color from the rest of the fruit; not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; tuberculate, or not tuberculate; tuberculate (blunt spines in longitudinal rows); not exfoliating; 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; subseptate; with septa thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only; filiform; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 2.3–5 mm long; 1.5–3 mm wide; 1.5–3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; C-shaped, or circular (subcircular), or reniform; terete; 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; orangish red to orange; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features and recessed features (present or absent); shagreen; striate (faintly and when present caused by ribs on fruit); coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; punctiform; marginal according to radicle tip (but on side opposite lobes); flush; not within corona, halo, or rim, or within halo; halo darker than testa (blackish-brown). Lens discernible; with margins curved; elliptic; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.4 mm from hilum; mounded; dissimilar color from testa; darker than testa; dark brown; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thick; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to embryo. Cotyledons smooth, or not smooth; both outer faces convex; both the same thickness; both more or less of equal length; with both folded; not sufficiently folded for inner face to touch itself; portions of inner folded face unequal; margin entire 180 degrees from base of radicle; similar at apex; not concealing radicle; entire over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; 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; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Europe, Mediterranean region, western Asia, northeastern Africa.

Old World; Europe, Mediterranean, Russia, Africa, Macaronesia, and Southwest Asia (western, Africa (northeast)).

Generic Notes

DomÍnguez and Galiano (1974) monographed the genus, recognizing four species; however Heyn and Raviv (1966) recognized only two of the four species: S. vermiculatus and S. muricatus. The S. muricatus complex with two varieties: var. muricatus (S. muricatus, s.s., and S. sulcatus, p.p.) and var. subvillosus (C. Linnaeus) J.B.A.P. de M. de Lamarck (S. subvillosus and S. sulcatus, p.p.). Kaniewski and Miszkiel (1980) studied the histogensis of the pericarp of Scorpiurus and noted that S. muricatus var. muricatus had "pods with smooth or tubercled ribs, usually coiled in one plane," while S. muricatus var. subvillosus had "pods spiny, usually twisted." Heyn and Raviv noted that the two seed shapes (straight with truncate margin and reniform with apiculate margin) faithfully reflect the degree of coiling of the lomentloment:
usually dry fruit derived from a single carpel that breaks transversely into one-seeded fruit segments
segment or article in which it developed. Upon soaking seeds the greatly expanded (up to twice the diameter of the seed) endosperm ruptures the testa as it does in Antopetita (13.16).

Tribal Notes

Tribe Loteae

In 1981, Polhill (1981k) accepted much broader generic circumscriptions in tribe Loteae, and only accepted four genera in the tribe: Cytisopsis, Anthyllis (13.02), Hymenocarpus (13.04), and Lotus (13.07). In his most recent classification of Fabaceae (Polhill, 1994a, 1994b), he combined tribes Loteae and Coronilleae and accepted six segregate genera in Loteae, s.s.: Tripodion (13.03), Dorycnopsis (13.05), Dorycnium (13.06), Podolotus J.F. Royle (13.08), Pseudolotus K.H. Rechinger (13.09), and Vermifrux (13.10).