Lessertia

Taxonomy

Lessertia A.P. de Candolle Nom. cons. Astragal. ed. fol. 4, 15, 37; ed. qu. 5, 19, 47. 15 Nov 1802.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.16.04.
Tribe: Galegeae.
Subtribe: Coluteinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 10 studied; ca. 50 in genus.

Description

Fruit: A legume; unilocular; 0.9–4 cm long; 0.5–2 cm wide; 0.05–0.12 cm thick; 2–9 times longer than wide; with deciduous androecial sheath, or persistent 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; symmetrical, or asymmetrical; oblong, or ovate, or elliptic, or linear (broadly), or circular (somewhat); with 1 straight and 1 curved suture, or both sutures unequally curved, or both sutures parallelly curved; widest near middle or D-shaped; not inflated, or inflated; compressed, or flattened, or terete; with beak; straight; with solid beak the same color and texture as fruit; short tapered at apex, or rounded at apex; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit, or oblique with longitudinal axis of fruit; short tapered at base, or rounded at base; aligned with longitudinal axis of fruit; with the apex and base uniform in texture; chartaceous; seed chambers externally visible; seed chambers with the raised seed chambers torulose; margin not constricted; margin without sulcus; margin plain; wing(s) absent (though whole fruit winglike); substipitate; indehiscent, or with all layers dehiscing (gaping at length at apex or subdehiscent); splitting along suture(s) (at least apex). Dehiscence of valves along 1 suture; apical and down (apex only), or medial and up and down (when gaping); passive. Replum invisible. Epicarp dull (and usually transparent); monochrome, or multicolored; mottled and streaked; tan to reddish tan; with black overlay, or purple overlay; with surface texture uniform; glabrous, or pubescent and indurate; with hairs erect, or appressed; with 1 type of pubescence; puberulent; with pubescence gray; with pubescence uniformly distributed; with simple hairs; pliable; with hair bases plain; glandular; with glandular dots (reddish-brown); without spines; not smooth; with elevated features; veined; reticulately veined; not tuberculate; wrinkled; not exfoliating; without cracks; without embedded tissue, much thicker than epicarp, running from base to apex. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp present; visible; dull; opaque; monochrome; tan; smooth; without adhering pieces of testa; nonseptate; chartaceous; not exfoliating; remaining fused to epicarp; without wings (though whole fruit winglike); entire. Seed(s) 1–9; length oblique to fruit length, or parallel with fruit length; neither overlapping nor touching; in 1 series. Funiculus 0.5–3 mm long; of 1 length only; filiform; straight, or curved, or hooked and contorted (somewhat near apex). Aril present; dry; when dry rim-aril; entire; white.

Seed: 2.5–4.5 mm long; 2–3.5 mm wide; 1–1.3 mm thick; not overgrown; not angular; asymmetrical; mitaform, or reniform; compressed; with surface smooth; with visible radicle and cotyledon lobes; with external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes, or without external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes; with external groove between radicle and cotyledon lobes same color as testa; 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; reddish to greenish brown, or black (reddish); glabrous; smooth, or not smooth; with elevated features; wrinkled; coriaceous. Pleurogram absent. Pseudopleurogram absent. Fracture lines absent. Rim absent. Wing(s) absent. Raphe not visible, or visible; from hilum to lens; not bifurcating; color of testa, or darker than testa; reddish brown; flush. Hilum present; visible; with faboid split; with the lips of the faboid split the same color as the rest of the hilum; punctiform; between cotyledon and radicle lobe; recessed; within halo; halo lighter than testa. Lens discernible, or not discernible; with margins curved; circular; not in groove of raphe; adjacent to hilum; 0.3 mm from hilum; mounded; same color as testa, or similar color as testa; darker than testa; reddish brown; 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; partially concealing radicle; entire over radicle; without lobes; with the interface division terminating at base of radicle; without margins recessed; yellow, or white; inner face flat; glabrous on inner face. Embryonic axis deflexed; oblique to length of seed; with a joint evident between the radicle and the cotyledons. Radicle differentiated from cotyledon; bulbose; lobe tip straight; deflexed and parallel to cotyledon length; centered between cotyledons; less than 1/2 length of cotyledons. Plumule rudimentary; glabrous.

Distribution

Eastern tropical Africa to South Africa.

Old World; Africa (eastern tropical to South).

Tribal Notes

Tribe Galegeae

Traditionally this tribe has been called Galegeae. Reveal (1997) reported that the name Astragaleae was published before the name Galegeae. Following the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al., 1994), the oldest name for a taxon must be used, so Reveal suggested that this tribe should be called Astragaleae. In 1999 Reveal (1999) reversed himself, so that this tribe remains the Galegeae. Welsh (1960) reported on the Galegeae of north-central United States. Sanderson and Liston (1995) carried out cladistic analyses of Galegeae genera using molecular data. They concluded that Galegeae is paraphyletic having given rise to tribes Cicereae (20), Hedysareae (18), Trifolieae (21), and Fabeae (19), and therefore requiring a re-evaluation of the circumscription of Galegeae. Heenan (1995, 1998c), utilizing unpublished nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS data, concluded that "Carmichaelia (17.05) is nested within (the) 'Astragalean clade' of Galegeae" and is the sister group of Clianthus. He therefore supported the proposal of Sanderson and Wojciehowski (1996) that Carmichaelieae should not be recognized at tribal level, but rather included in Galegeae.