Delonix

Taxonomy

Delonix C.S. Rafinesque-Schmaltz Fl. Tell. 2: 92. Jan-Mar 1837 ('1836').

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.1.22.
Tribe: Caesalpinieae.
Group: Peltophorum.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 7 studied; 11 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 13–60 cm long; 2–10 cm wide; 1–4 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 to curved; not plicate; not twisted; symmetrical; linear to oblong; not inflated; flattened to compressed; without beak; long tapered at apex to tapered at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base to rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; coriaceous, or ligneous; seed chambers externally invisible to visible; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent; stipitate to nonstipitate; indehiscent (but gaping along both margins and eventually opening along both margins). Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; reddish to blackish brown; with surface texture uniform; glabrous; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; checking and exfoliating; with cracks; cracking oblique to fruit length, or transverse to fruit length; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; surface not veined; 1-layered, or 2-layered; without balsamic vesicles; with fibers; without reniform canals; mealy; with fibers longitudinal reticulate over solid layer; ligneous to coriaceous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; yellowish tan; without adhering pieces of testa; subseptate to nonseptate; not exfoliating; remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; entire. Seed(s) 6–46; length oblique to fruit length to transverse to fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 10 mm long; of 1 length only; thick; straight to plicate. Aril absent.

Seed: 15–24 mm long; 7–15 mm wide; 1–35 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; symmetrical; circular to oblong (subcircular); terete to compressed; 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; glossy; not modified by a bloom; colored; mottled; reddish to yellowish or greenish with blackish or dark reddish to greenish brown; with black overlay, or brown overlay; glabrous; smooth; osseous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines present; concentric. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe visible, or not visible (?). Hilum present; fully concealed; concealed by funicular remnant; without faboid split; punctiform; subapical to radicle tip; flush; not within corona, halo, or rim. Lens discernible; 0.1–2 mm long; with margins curved; elliptic; not in groove of raphe; mounded; similar color as testa; lighter than testa to darker than testa; not within corona, halo, or rim. Endosperm present; thick; not pluglike and not resembling tip of radicle; 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 (and lobes); with lobes; with lobes not touching; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; 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 well developed; glabrous.

Distribution

Generic Notes