Styphnolobium

Taxonomy

Styphnolobium H.W. Schott Wierner Z. Kunst 3: 844. 1830.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.2.44.
Tribe: Sophoreae.
Group: Sophora.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 9 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; 3–16 cm long; 0.7–4 cm wide; 0.5–1 cm thick (at least); length less than twice as long as width, or 2–9 times longer than wide, or more than 9 times longer than wide; with persistent androecial sheath, or 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; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; moniliform; not inflated; compressed, or terete; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous, or fleshy (in literature); seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers torulose, or not torulose; margin constricted; margin constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate, or nonstipitate; with the stipe 1.5–2.5 mm long; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; brown; with brown overlay, or green overlay; mottling color combination variable; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect, or appressed; with 1 type of pubescence; pilose, or puberulent, or sericeous, or velutinous; with pubescence white; with pubescence uniformly distributed, or with apical pubescence different from basal pubescence; with stipe (only) sericeous (in literature); with simple hairs; stiff; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; not veined; not tuberculate; finely rugose and wrinkled; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thick; surface not veined; 2-layered; with balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; with solid layer over solid layer; coriaceous, or fleshy. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; black, or tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; septate; with septa thicker than paper, firm; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; exfoliating in part, or not exfoliating; separating from mesocarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–8; length parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus about 2 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 6–25 mm long; 4–15 mm wide; 3–4 mm thick (at least); not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; ovate, or reniform; compressed; with surface smooth; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; without external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes; with shallow hilar sinus, or without hilar sinus; without umbo on seed faces; without medial ridge on each face. Cuticle not exfoliating; not inflated; not wrinkled. Testa present; with pieces of adhering epicarp, or without pieces of adhering epicarp; partially adhering to endocarp, or not adhering to endocarp; free from endocarp; dull, or glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; dark 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; 1.5–2 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic, or oval; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; recessed; within rim; rim color of testa, or lighter than testa. Lens discernible; 0.5–1 mm long; with margins straight, or curved; oblong; ovate; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 1–2 mm from hilum; mounded; similar color as testa; darker than testa; darker brown; within halo, or not within corona, halo, or rim; halo color darker than testa. Endosperm present; thick; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to embryo. Cotyledons smooth; both outer faces flat; 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; notched at radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; green; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis oblique; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; linear; lobe tip curved; with 90 degree turn; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Indochina, Southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America.

New World, or Old World; Mexico, Central America, and South America (Colombia); Japan and Indochina.

Generic Notes

Styphnolobium was revised by Sousa and Rudd (1993). We placed it in the generic sequence according to Rudd (pers. comm.)

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.