Ecuadendron

Taxonomy

Ecuadendron D.A. Neill Novon 8: 45. 23 Apr 1998.

Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 1.4.54A.
Tribe: Detarieae.
Group: Brownea.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 1 studied; 1 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 20–28.5 cm long; 4–7.5 cm wide; 0.5–0.8 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath; with deciduous corolla; with persistent calyx; with calyx shorter than fruit; without orifice formed by curving of fruit or fruit segments; straight; not plicate; not twisted; asymmetrical; oblong, or obovate (weakly); with both sutures nearly straight, or both sutures parallelly curved; not inflated; flattened; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; tapered at apex; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; tapered at base; oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; ligneous; seed chambers externally slightly visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers not torulose; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin embellished; margin with thickened sutural areas; wing(s) absent; stipitate; with the stipe 30–35 mm long; indehiscent. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull; monochrome; brown; with surface texture uniform; pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect; with 1 type of pubescence; rufescent puberulent; with pubescence reddish brown; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; eglandular; without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; obliquely veined relative to fruit length (veins originating from one suture and not reaching the other suture); not tuberculate; muricate; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp present; thin; surface not veined; 1-layered; without balsamic vesicles; without fibers; without reniform canals; solid; ligneous. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome (assumed from small piece); tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; coriaceous; not exfoliating (assumed from small piece); remaining fused to mesocarp and epicarp; without wings; entire. Seed(s) 4–9; length parallel with fruit length; touching; in 1 series. Aril absent (from orginal description (Neill, 1998)).

Seed: 25–50 mm long (from orginal description (Neill, 1998Neill, 1998:
Neill DA. 1998. Ecuadendron (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae): A new arborescent genus from western Ecuador. Novon 8:45&-49.)); 20–30 mm wide (from orginal description (Neill, 1998Neill, 1998:
Neill DA. 1998. Ecuadendron (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae): A new arborescent genus from western Ecuador. Novon 8:45&-49.)); not overgrown; not angular, or angular (sometimes, from orginal description (Neill, 1998Neill, 1998:
Neill DA. 1998. Ecuadendron (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae): A new arborescent genus from western Ecuador. Novon 8:45&-49.)); symmetrical; oblong, or quadrangular (sometimes, from orginal description (Neill, 1998Neill, 1998:
Neill DA. 1998. Ecuadendron (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae): A new arborescent genus from western Ecuador. Novon 8:45&-49.)). Testa present; not adhering to endocarp; free from endocarp; colored; monochrome; dark brown; chartaceous (from orginal description (Neill, 1998Neill, 1998:
Neill DA. 1998. Ecuadendron (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae): A new arborescent genus from western Ecuador. Novon 8:45&-49.)). Endosperm absent (from orginal description (Neill, 1998Neill, 1998:
Neill DA. 1998. Ecuadendron (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae): A new arborescent genus from western Ecuador. Novon 8:45&-49.)).

Distribution

Western Ecuador.

New World; South America (western Ecuador).

Generic Notes

Neill (1998) described this new genus for a large canopy tree occurring in the mesic forests of lowland, western Ecuador, between the Andes Mountains and Pacific Ocean. Fruiting specimens were available for study. No seeds were available, so seed data was extracted from the original description.

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.