Cordyla Lour.

Flora Zambesiaca Leguminosae subfamily Papillionoideae by R.K. Brummitt

Morphology General Habit

Unarmed deciduous trees.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets alternate to rarely subopposite, with minute pellucid dots or dashes between the smaller veins; stipules small, caducous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences of rather short and usually clustered racemes.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers hermaphrodite or male, the most conspicuous part being the many stamens.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Hypanthium

Hypanthium (receptacle) well developed, campanulate; calyx subglobose and entire before dehiscence, splitting into (3)5 ± reflexed lobes.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals 0.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens many (23–126), usually crowded into several series round the rim of the hypanthium; filaments connate for up to 3 mm at base; anthers very small (up to 0.5 mm long), dorsifixed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits; connective glandular at the top.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary (in hermaphrodite flowers) on a long gynophore exceeding the hypanthium, with several ovules, tapering to a short style with inconspicuous stigma.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruits ellipsoid to subglobose with a ± oblique beak, fleshy, indehiscent, with 1–6 seeds embedded in pulp.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds large, with a thin testa; embryo with a straight radicle.

Distribution

A genus of 7 species, of which one is from West Africa, two from Madagascar and three from E and NE tropical Africa in addition to the species described below.

Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)

Habit

Trees and shrubs

Ecology

Seasonally dry tropical forest (often riverine), woodland, bushland and scrub, often on rocky hillsides

Distribution

c. 5 spp. in Africa in the Zambezian, Sudanian and Somalia-Masai phytochoria of White (1983); 2 spp. in Madagascar

Note

The genus is being worked on by Kirkbride who suggests that two generic elements may be involved

The Swartzieae sens. lat., comprising 17 genera and c. 258 species (Fig. 28), is largely Neotropical and distributed from Mexico to Argentina, and the Caribbean, with Bobgunnia, Cordyla, Mildbraediodendron and Baphiopsis restricted to tropical Africa and Madagascar. Cowan (1981a) included 11 genera in the Swartzieae, then later (Polhill, 1994) transferred four genera from the Sophoreae (Amburana, Ateleia, Cyathostegia and Holocalyx). Bobgunnia (Kirkbride & Wiersema, 1997) and Trischidium (Ireland, submitted) were added subsequently.

The flowers of Swartzieae genera are unusual and varied, and do not totally conform to the typical ‘papilionoid’ structure, resulting in much debate over the systematic placement of the tribe. Disparities with the rest of the family, of some but not all Swartzieae taxa, include a closed calyx in bud, non-papilionaceous corollas (often with a single petal, or these lacking altogether due to complete loss of some petal primordia) and polystemony (often numerous stamens resulting from an innovative developmental feature, the ring meristem) (Tucker, 2003). Although now generally accepted to be papilionoid, the tribe has frequently been shifted between the Papilionoideae and the Caesalpinioideae, and is even recognised by some as a fourth subfamily (De Candolle, 1825; Bartling, 1830; Endlicher, 1840; Corner, 1951).

Research based on pollen (Ferguson & Schrire, 1994), macromorphology (Herendeen, 1995), wood anatomy (Gasson, 1996) and DNA sequences (Doyle et al., 1996; Ireland et al., 2000; Pennington et al., 2001) has shown the Swartzieae to be polyphyletic, with many members of the tribe more closely related to genera in the Sophoreae, Dipterygeae and Dalbergieae than they are to each other (Fig. 28). In a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence data (Ireland et al., 2000; Pennington et al., 2001), Swartzia emerges in a monophyletic group with Bobgunnia, Bocoa, Trischidium, Cyathostegia and Ateleia. This group of genera, with the addition of Candolleodendron, are likely to constitute a redefined Swartzieae sens. strict., with the remaining swartzioid genera being moved to other tribes (Fig. 28). Wojciechowski et al. (2004) find moderate support for including Swartzieae sens. strict. in a monophyletic clade together with basally branching genera lacking the 50kb inversion in Sophoreae, and Dipterygeae.

 The reclassification of Swartzieae sens. strict., and realignment of the remaining swartzioid genera in other tribes, needs to be corroborated by further evidence. For the present, Swartzieae sens. lat. is retained in a basally branching position within the Papilionoideae following Polhill (1981a).

[Author’s postscript: Mansano et al. (2004a) recently undertook a molecular-morphological analysis of the Lecointea clade of Herendeen (1995) and found strong support for the inclusion of Harleyodendron and Exostyles within this clade, rather than in the Vataireoid clade as reported here]

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M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit

Unarmed deciduous trees or shrubs

Morphology Leaves

Leaves alternate, imparipinnate; leaflets with numerous pellucid dots or streaks

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers in racemes, bisexual or male

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx with a subglobose limb, entire before dehiscence, splitting into 3–5 lobes on opening

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals lacking

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens numerous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary long-stipitate, tapering into a subulate style

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Pods stipitate, ellipsoid to subglobose, indehiscent, 1–6-seeded.

Distribution

Five or six species in tropical Africa and in Madagascar.