Pithecellobium

• Authority

  Isley, Duane. 1973. Leguminosae of the United States: I. Subfamily. Mimosoideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (1): 1-152.

• Family

  Mimosaceae

• Scientific Name

  Pithecellobium

• Description

  
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  Species Description - Shrubs or trees usually armed with paired stipular spines. Leaves bipinnate; leafstalk variously glandular; the glands sessile to stalked, usually between or near to lower or several pinnae; leaflets of most kinds asymmetric, of some species reduced to 4. Stipules spinose, or if not, inevident. Inflorescences of axillary or supra-axillary, or racemed or panicled, whitish (P. saman, pink-purple) heads, umbels or spikes. Calyx shortly lobed; corolla lobed about the middle; stamens more than 10, but often not numerous, the filaments basally connate; ovary sessile or stipitate. Legume diverse, dehiscent or indehiscent, straight to circinately coiled, septate or not; valves thin or initially thick and succulent, becoming membranous, coriaceous or woody, separating and twisting at maturity or not.

• Discussion

  Siderocarpus Small Samanea Merrill Havardia Small CBN x= 13. Literature: Britton & Rose (1928), Mohlenbrock (1963a), Isely (1972). The six species of Pithecellobium constitute the most heterogeneous group of U.S. mimosoids. Some workers feel that Pithecellobium sensu lato includes several genera equivalent to others of the Mimosoideae-Ingeae, but individuals differ widely as to delimitations (Woodson & Schery, 1950; Kostermans, 1952; Mohlenbrock, 1963a and 1963b; Hutchinson, 1964). I am sympathetic to Mohlenbrock’s (1963a) interpretation that limits Pithecellobium to those taxa with twisted legumes and segregates U.S. species among four genera. These genera, however, seem as arbitrary as the larger Pithecellobium replaced, and the taxonomic decisions lack documentation. Without an established or attractive alternative, I take the conservative position. U.S. Pithecellobium fall into four groups on the basis of fruit characters: (1) Legume circinate or curved, dehiscent, the valves twisting; leaflets 4, P. unguis-cati and relatives. (2) Legume woody, indehiscent or nearly so, septate, flowers in spikes, P. jlexicaule. (3) Legume strongly compressed, membranous, dehiscent, P. pollens. (4) Legume fleshy, becoming woody, straight, elongate, indehiscent, not septate, P. saman.

• Distribution

  A large circumtropical genus of indeterminate size. Ours of s Florida and Texas.