Tephrosia

Taxonomy

Tephrosia C.H. Persoon Nom. cons. Syn. Pl. 2: 328. Sep 1807.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.7.
Tribe: Millettieae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 50 studied; ca. 400 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; 0.7–14 cm long; 0.25–1 cm wide; 0.2–0.4 cm thick; length less than twice as long as width, or 2–9 times longer than wide, or more than 9 times longer than wide; with 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, or with orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight, or 1-coiled; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; falcate, or fusiform, or linear; with both sutures nearly straight; not inflated, or inflated (rarely); compressed, or flattened, or terete; with beak, or without beak; straight, or hooked; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; blunt at apex, or tapered at apex, or short tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base, or truncate at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous, or coriaceous; seed chambers externally visible, or invisible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished, or plain; margin with ridge(s), or thickened sutural areas; wing(s) absent; nonstipitate, or stipitate (in literature); with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures; apical and down; active; with valves twisting. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome, or multicolored; mottled; brown, or tan, or yellow; with brown overlay; mottling color combination variable; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate, or pubescent but soon deciduous; with hairs erect, or appressed; with 1 type of pubescence; puberulent, or sericeous, or tomentose, or velutinous; with pubescence golden, or white; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; stiff, or pliable; with hair bases plain, or swollen; eglandular; without spines; smooth; not veined; not tuberculate; not exfoliating; with cracks, or without cracks; cracking oblique to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thin; surface not veined; 1-layered, or 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; with solid layer over solid layer; chartaceous to coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque, or translucent; monochrome; tan, or yellow; scurfy and smooth, or scurfy, or smooth, or hairy and smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; with hairs surrounding seed chambers; subseptate, or nonseptate; with septa thin (tissue paper-like), flexible; with septa eglandular; chartaceous; exfoliating in part, or not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 1–20; length parallel with fruit length, or oblique to fruit length, or transverse to fruit length; touching, or neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–2 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; triangular. Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril, or rim-aril and tongue-aril, or 2-lipped rim-aril; entire; with tongues (or flap) on lips of 2-lipped rim-aril; with 1 tongue or flap on 1 lip of 2-lipped rim-aril; cream.

Seed: 3–10 mm long; 2–6 mm wide; 1.5–3 mm thick; not overgrown; angular, or not angular; symmetrical; ovate, or rectangular, or reniform; compressed; with surface smooth; without visible 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; without pieces of adhering epicarp; not adhering to endocarp; free from endocarp; dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome, or mottled; with frequent mottles; black, or brown, or tan; with brown overlay; glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; reticulate; chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; visible, or partially concealed; concealed by aril; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 0.8–2.2 mm long; with curved outline; circular, or elliptic, or oval; apical according to radicle tip but marginal according to seed length; flush, or recessed; within corona; corona color lighter than testa and darker than testa. Lens discernible; ca. 1 mm long; with margins straight; linear; not in groove of raphe; confluent with hilum; recessed; same color as testa; brown; within halo; halo color darker than testa. Endosperm present, or absent; thin; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; covering entire embryo; adnate to testa. 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; white to yellow, or green; inner face wrinkled; 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; bulbose to linear; lobe tip straight, or curved; oblique to cotyledons to with 90 degree turn; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons, or 1/2 to nearly length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Pantropics (Mainly Africa).

New World and Old World; pantropical; United States, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, and South America; Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and the Guianas; Mediterranean, China, Africa, Madagascar, Indian Ocean, Southwest Asia, India, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines, Australia, Pacific, New Guinea, Fiji, Hawaii, and Macaronesia.

Generic Notes

Bosman and Haas (1983) revised the species in Malesia. Geesink (1984) noted that "Mundulea is strikingly similar to Tephrosia," and also noted that Requienia is closely related to Tephrosia. Our fruit and seed data neither confirm nor reject Geesink's ideas. Caulocarpus E.G. Baker, recognized by Geesink (1984), is here rejected as a genus and is treated as part of Tephrosia following Geesink's suggestion that "it may represent a section or subgenus of Tephrosia." Species of Tephrosia are used worldwide for folk medicine, fish poison, insecticides, fodder, and dyes.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Millettieae

Geesink (1981) treated this tribe, as others before him, under the tribal name Tephroseae, but we now know that its correct name is Millettieae. Recent tribal studies (Geesink, 1981, 1984; Polhill, 1994a, 1994b) have arranged the genera in alphabetical order without phylogenetic numbers. Geesink (1984) monographed tribe Millettieae, and presented descriptive notes about fruits and seeds and in situ fruit and seed drawings. However, we are not entirely following Geesink (1984) for generic parameters because he either questioned the status of many of his new genera or did not make the necessary species transfers. The few new genera which he clearly recognized are being accepted. Lavin et al. (1998) developed a preliminary infratribal classification of six informal groups using phytochrome nucleotides: Millettia group, Lonchocarpus group, Derris group, Tephrosia group, "primitive" group, and Phaseoleae group. Lavin (1987) transferred Sphinctospermum to Millettieae. Lavin and Doyle (1991) carried out cladistic analyses integrating morphological and chloroplast DNA data, and concluded that it is a member of Robineae where we have placed it (now 8.12).