Virgilia

Taxonomy

Virgilia J.L.M. Poiret Nom. cons. In Lamarck, Encycl. 8: 677. 22 Aug 1808.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.25.08.
Tribe: Podalyrieae.
Subtribe: Podalyriinae.
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; 1.5–7 cm long; 0.7–1.5 cm wide; 0.1–0.2 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; slightly curved; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical, or symmetrical; linear to oblong; with both sutures nearly straight; not inflated; flattened; without beak; rounded at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit (slightly); with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous, or ligneous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin constricted; margin slightly constricted along both margins; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; substipitate, or nonstipitate; with all layers dehiscing; splitting along suture(s). Dehiscence of valves along 1 suture, or both sutures; assumed apical and down; passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate (widely scattered); with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; pilose; with pubescence golden; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; transversely veined relative to fruit length; not tuberculate; not exfoliating; with cracks; cracking transverse to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp apparently absent. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings. Seed(s) 4–6; length oblique to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus of 1 length only. Aril present; fleshy; when fleshy annular; entire; covering less than 1/2 of seed; tan, or white.

Seed: 5–9 mm long; 3–6 mm wide; 2.5–3.5 mm thick; not overgrown; angular, or not angular; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; (sub-) circular to oblong to reniform; compressed; 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 to dull; not modified by a bloom; colored; monochrome; black, or brown, or yellow (-brown); glabrous; smooth; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible; from hilum to lens; not bifurcating; color of testa; flush. Hilum present; partially concealed, or fully concealed; concealed by aril, or aril remnant; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; larger than punctiform; 1.3–1.5 mm long; with curved outline; elliptic; marginal according to radicle tip; recessed; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible, or not discernible (at most a discolored darker and flush area); 0.8 mm long; with margins curved; elliptic; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 1.5 mm from hilum; flush; similar color as testa; darker than testa; gray (ish); 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; 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; not concealing radicle; entire over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; green (ish); 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; linear; oblique to cotyledons; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule moderately developed; glabrous.

Distribution

South Africa (Southern Cape Province).

Old World; South Africa (southern Cape Province).

Generic Notes

Van Wyk (1986) monographed Virgilia.

Tribal Notes

Tribe Podalyrieae

Van Wyk and Schutte (1995a) considered Liparieae and Podalyrieae to each be monophyletic and Sophoreae (2) to be their sister group. Schutte and Van Wyk (1998a, 1998b), using Crotalarieae (27) as outgroup, found that the genera of Liparieae and Podalyrieae coalesced into two closely related clades with Liparia (25.04) in the Podalyria (25.06) clade. This supported earlier suggestions (Polhill, 1976, 1981n, 1981o; Van Wyk and Schutte, 1995a) that Liparieae and Podalyrieae should be merged. Schutte and Van Wyk (1998a, 1998b) merged the two tribes as Podalyrieae, recognized the two clades as subtribes, Xiphothecinae and Podalyriinae, and erected a monotypic tribe for Hypocalytus (3.26.01), Hypocalypteae (26). The generic enumeration and number of species in each genus follows Schutte and Van Wyk (1998a). Van der Bank et al. (2002) carried out further cladistic analyses using DNA, morphological, and chemical data and confirmed the findings of Van Wyk and Schutte.