Tetraberlinia

Taxonomy

Tetraberlinia (H.A.T. Harms) L.L. Hauman Bull. Inst. Col. Belge 23: 477. 1952.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.4.58.
Tribe: Detarieae.
Group: Berlinia.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 2 studied; 7 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legumelegume:
usually dry, dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel that opens along two longitudinal sutures
; unilocular; 5–14(–23) cm long; 2.3–6.8 cm wide; 0.2–0.7 cm thick; 2–9 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; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; obovate to oblong; with 1 straight and 1 curved suture; widest near apex, or widest near middle or D-shaped; not inflated; flattened; with beak; straight (1–12 mm long); with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; tapered at apex to short tapered at apex, or truncate at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit to oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; rounded at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit to right angled with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally invisible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with wing(s), or thickened sutural areas (1–3 mm broad); wing(s) present, or absent; wing(s) 2; wing(s) 3–12 mm wide; wing(s) sutural; wing(s) on 1 suture (on upper suture); stipitate to substipitate; with the stipe 3–15(–23) mm long; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along both sutures (initially along ventral suture); apical and down; active; with valves separately enrolling. Replum invisible. Epicarp glossy; monochrome; brown (to gray-brown); with surface texture uniform; glabrous (sometimes with a few long hairs on upper suture), or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect, or appressed; with 2 types of pubescence; tomentose, or puberulent (with a few scattered long to very long hairs); with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with recessed features, or elevated features; veined; obliquely veined relative to fruit length, reticulately veined, and longitudinally veined relative to fruit length (with 1 or 2 prominent longitudinal veins, 25–50% down from upper suture and 50–60% down); not tuberculate; granulate and striate; pitted; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; reddish brown; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 1–4(–6); length transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.1–2 mm long; of 1 length only; flattened; straight. Aril absent.

Seed: 10–30 mm long; 8.5–27 mm wide; 3–7.7 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; circular, or elliptic to obovate; flattened; 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, or glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; reddish or pale to dark brown; glabrous; not smooth; with elevated features; faintly rugose; coriaceous, or chartaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible. Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; larger than punctiform; 0.1–2 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; apical at apex of radicle tip; raised; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens not discernible. 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; completely concealing radicle; notched at radicle and split over radicle; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; purple to dark purple, or brown (purple); inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis straight; parallel to length of seed; without a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; centered between cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

tropical evergreen forests of western and cetral Africa (Wieringa 1999Wieringa 1999:
Wieringa JJ. 1999. Monopetalanthus exit: A systematic study of Aphanocalyx, Bikinia, Icuria, Michelsonia and Tetraberlinia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). Wageningen Agricvultural Papers 99-4:1–320.).

Old World; Africa (Guineo-Congolian forests).

Generic Notes

Wieringa (1999) mongraphed this genus. Gervais and Bruneau (2002) assessed Wieringa's claasification using molecular techniques, and their results agreed, in general, with those of Wieringa (1999). Cowan and Polhill (1981b) reported that "insufficient material seen to assess the case for amalgamating Michelsonia [(1.4.57)] with Tetraberlinia". Burgt (1997) reported that Tetraberlinia moreliana A. Aubréville has explosive fruits. It is a large emergent forest tree of west Gabon and southwest Cameroon. It can project its seeds up to 60 m which is the longest distance so far published.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Detarieae

Bruneau et al. (2000) carried out extensive phylogenetic analyses of tribes Amherstieae and Detarieae. They concluded that they form a single monophyletic group. Therefore, they supported Polhill's (1995a, 1995b) decision to unite the two tribes.