Cassia imbricans H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Authors

    Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

  • Authority

    Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1978. Monographic studies in Cassia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). III. Sections Absus and Grimaldia. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 30: 1-300.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cassia imbricans H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Type

    Holotypus, UB; isotypi, F, K, NY, RB, US.

  • Description

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    Latin Diagnosis - Cassia imbricans Irwin & Barneby sp. nov., foliorum strictorum foliolis multijugis prorsus imbricatis C. pohhanae similis et affinis, praesertim statura elatiori adulta fruticosa 1-2.5 m (nec suffruticosa e xylopodio erecta 3-7.5 dm) alta, floribusque majoribus (sepalis 12-17 nec 10.5-12 mm, petalis 15-20.5 nec 13.5-16 mm usque longis) distans.

    Species Description - Shrubs flowering when suffruticose, paniculately branched distally, 1-2.5 m, the stems. lf-stalks and far exserted terminal inflorescences densely glandular-villosulous and setulose (setae & hairs of about equal length), the foliage markedly less glandular and less hairy. Stipules subulate to linear-caudate, acute, (2-)3-10 mm, deciduous. Lvs mostly stiffly ascending at a narrow angle, (7-)10-25 cm; petiole stout, (1 -) 1.5-4 cm, shallowly sulcate ventrally; rachis of primary cauline lvs 7-20 cm, (of some lowest and some within or near panicle shorter); lfts (forwardly imbricate when pressed) in larger lvs 13-32 pairs, on villosulous pulvinule 0.5-1.4 mm, gradually diminishing upward along rachis, in outline ovate- or lance-oblong, (5-)8-27 x (2-)3-13 mm, at apex obtusely rounded to broadly deltate, apiculate by excurrent costa, at base strongly asymmetric, semicordate at proximal and rounded at distal side, the plane margin villosulous-ciliolate, the blades firmly membranous, above brownish-olivaceous dull, paler beneath, above either thinly villosulous or glabrate, beneath either villosulous, or thinly seiulose- villosulous, or glabrescent except for the always villosulous costa, papillate, the 4-6 pairs of secondary nerves immersed above, scarcely or not prominulous beneath. Racemes loosely many-fld terminal to main stems and upper branches, the axis (including short peduncle) mostly becoming 1-3 dm, some lateral ones shorter; bracts submembranous, linear- subulate acute, brownish, 3.5-10 mm, deciduous; pedicels becoming (1.5-)2-4 cm long, bracteolate 3-13 mm below calyx; bracteoles resembling bracts except slightly smaller, 1.5-7 mm, caducous; buds plumply ovoid, apiculate; sepals submembranous, ovate-acuminate 12-17 x 4.5-7 mm, villosulous at base, the parts exposed in bud red and villous-setulose; petals yellow, broadly obovate-cuneate or f labe I late, 15-20.5 x 7-14 mm; ovary densely villous; ovules 5-8(-9). Pod oblong, straight or nearly so, 3.5-5.5 x 0.7-0.8 cm, the ripe valves dark reddish-brown, transversely veined, thinly villosulous, setulose; seeds (little known) compressed-pyriform ±5-5.4 x 3.6-3.8 mm, the testa dark brown, lustrous, shallowly pitted all over. — Collections: 13.

    Distribution and Ecology - Cerrado, burned campo, fields, and margin of gallery forest, sometimes on limestone, 700-1075 m, locally plentiful about the sources of Rio S. Bartolomeu in Distrito Federal, s., perhaps interruptedly, to Sa. dos Cristais in s.-e. Goias. — Fl. V-XII.

  • Discussion

    This species, which suggests a taller, fruticose version of the sympatric C. pohliana, has passed as C. goyazensis Taub., an error that arose at Berlin by misidentification of the widely distributed Glaziou 20946 which subsequently masqueraded as type of C. goyazensis. The actual typus of the latter is Ule 2869, duly cited under our C. neesiana var. goyazensis; so that we are obliged to describe C. imbricans under a new name.

    The close affinties of C. imbricans are clearly with C. pohliana, C. isidorea, and C. neesiana sens. lat. It differs from the first in its shrubby habit and larger flowers, as mentioned in the diagnosis. The habitally similar C. isidorea, also found in the Federal District, is easily distinguished by its short pedicels (less than 2, 2-4 cm long) combined with less numerous (9-18, not 13-32 pairs of) leaflets and a setulose pod; while C. neesiana var. goyazensis, with which Taubert confounded it, has only 12-16 (rarely 18) pairs of leaflets and substantially smaller flowers.

  • Distribution

    Distrito Federal Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Distrito Federal Brazil South America| Brazil South America|