Delonix Raf.

First published in Fl. Tellur. 2: 92 (1837)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Egypt to Tanzania and W. India, Madagascar.

Descriptions

Leguminosae, R.K. Brummitt, A.C. Chikuni, J.M. Lock & R.M. Polhill. Flora Zambesiaca 3:2. 2007

Morphology General Habit
Unarmed trees.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves bipinnate with 2–23 pairs of leaflets, without specialised glands on petiole and rachis; leaflets opposite in (4)6–32 pairs, eglandular; stipules small, subulate and caducous or pinnately compound with up to 6 pairs of pinnae and often persistent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes axillary, subcorymbose, with up to c.20 fairly large flowers, often in groups and so appearing compound; bracts ± ovate, caducous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers with a distinct hypanthium, the lower part of which is narrower and simulates the pedicel but is clearly demarcated from it by a joint, the upper part being expanded into a shallowly concave disc or a conspicuous cup, persisting into fruiting.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 5, valvate, somewhat leathery.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, subequal except that the upper one usually differs slightly in size, shape and colour, all with a long claw, the broad part suborbicular to reniform.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 10, all fertile, often conspicuously exserted, eglandular; anthers dorsifixed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary ± sessile or shortly stipitate, glabrous to sericeous-tomentose, with numerous ovules, tapered above into a long style approximately equalling the stamens and somewhat broadened at the apex to form a flattish, ciliate stigma.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods 13–70 cm long, linear-oblong to linear, flattened, coriaceous or woody, dehiscing down both sides; seeds numerous, transversely elongate in the pod, compressed or subcylindrical, with endosperm.
[FZ]

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

Morphology General Habit
Unarmed trees
Morphology Leaves
Leaves bipinnate, without specialised glands (sometimes with glandular hairs at insertions of pinnae); leaflets small, opposite
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers usually large, in short axillary corymbose racemes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 5, valvate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals usually 5, similar except sometimes the upper one, which may differ in colour and shape, sometimes 1 or 3
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 10, exserted; filaments hairy below
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary subsessile to shortly stipitate, with many ovules
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods linear-oblong, flattened, dehiscent; valves coriaceous or woody, septate between the many seeds
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds transverse, hard, oblong, subcylindrical to flattened and oblong-elliptic.
Distribution
Twelve species from E Africa to India and seven in Madagascar (one widely cultivated).
[FSOM]

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

Note

Polhill & Vidal (1981) divided the Caesalpinieae into 8 informal generic groups: the Gleditsia group (2 genera), the Acrocarpus group (monogeneric), the Sclerolobium group (3 genera), the Peltophorum group (13 genera), the Caesalpinia group (16 genera), the Poeppigia and Pterogyne groups (both monogeneric) and the Dimorphandra group (10 genera). They commented that the tribe is “a remarkable mixture of relics and complexes of relatively recent speciation, providing many pitfalls for formal systematics and biogeographical interpretations”. Polhill (1994) added a ninth informal group, the monogeneric Orphanodendron group, and placed Cordeauxia as a synonym of Stuhlmannia (both genera recognised in the present treatment) so that the total of 47 genera in the tribe remained unchanged. Within the tribe, Parkinsonia (including Cercidium), Conzattia and Lemuropisum were moved from the Caesalpinia group to the Peltophorum group (Polhill, 1994) in agreement with the subsequently published works of Lewis & Schrire (1995) and Du Puy et al. (1995b).

Since 1994 several studies have cast new light on intergeneric relationships within the Caesalpinieae, necessitating the restructuring of some of the nine informal generic groups presented by Polhill (1994). As pointed out in the introduction to tribe Cassieae, the genus Ceratonia has been removed from that tribe to the Caesalpinieae, and Poeppigia has been removed from the Caesalpinieae to the Cassieae (for further detail see discussion under each genus). In the rbcL phylogeny of Doyle et al. (1997) the Caesalpinieae, as traditionally circumscribed, was shown to be paraphyletic with members scattered throughout a clade which also included genera of the Cassieae and one mimosoid genus. The molecular analysis of Kajita et al. (2001) also found the Caesalpinieae to be non-monophyletic. In the molecular analysis of Bruneau et al. (2001) some of the informal generic groups of Polhill (1994) were supported as monophyletic but the tribe as a whole was clearly demonstrated to be paraphyletic. With regard to intergeneric relationships, Pterogyne resolved as sister to a Caesalpinia group clade; Batesia and Vouacapoua fell outside a core- Peltophorum group, and the Dimorphandra group was clearly shown to be a diverse assemblage of genera, many of which share certain characteristics with the Mimosoideae, specifically with members of tribe Mimoseae (Bruneau et al., 2001). Erythrophleum was sister to a clade that comprised the majority of the Mimosoideae sampled, and Pachyelasma was sister to the two mimosoid genera Pentaclethra and Calpocalyx. Herendeen et al. (2003a) in a combined molecular-morphological analysis which expanded on the study of Bruneau et al. (2001), presented an ‘Umtiza clade’ containing Gymnocladus and Gleditsia (the two members of Polhill and Vidal’s Gleditsia Group), Umtiza (traditionally included in tribe Detarieae), Tetrapterocarpon (from the Dimorphandra Group), Acrocarpus (the sole genus of the Acrocarpus Group), and Ceratonia (from subtribe Ceratoniinae in tribe Cassieae). This new generic grouping raises some fascinating phytogeographical questions (see Schrire et al., pages 21–54, this volume). Pterogyne resolved as sister to a Chamaecrista-Senna clade (of tribe Cassieae) a relationship worthy of further study; Batesia and Vouacapoua again fell outside the core-Peltophorum group; Dimorphandra grouped with Mora as sister to all Mimosoideae, and Pachyelasma grouped with Erythrophleum as sister to the Dimorphandra-Mimosoideae clade. In the phylogenetic investigation of Haston et al. (2003), the Peltophorum group of Polhill (1994) was non-monophyletic but there was support for a core-Peltophorum group comprising Peltophorum, Parkinsonia, Schizolobium, Conzattia, Delonix, Lemuropisum, Colvillea and Bussea. Pterogyne resolved as sister to a clade containing Haematoxylum and Cordeauxia (both of the Caesalpinia group), thus supporting the earlier findings of Bruneau et al. (2001) rather than those of Herendeen et al. (2003a). Haston et al. (submitted) have further refined the relationships of the non core-Peltophorum group genera. They place Arapatiella and Jacqueshuberia with Tachigali in a newly defined Tachigali group and find strong molecular support for associating Batesia with Recordoxylon and Melanoxylon in a new Batesia group. Moldenhawera is placed in its own monogeneric group sister to a Tachigali group–core-Peltophorum group–Dimorphandra group–Mimosoideae clade. In an analysis testing the monophyly of the Umtiza clade (Herendeen et al., 2003b), Arcoa (traditionally of the Dimorphandra group) from the Dominican Republic was added to the group of genera in that clade.

Without doubt, the genus with the greatest taxonomic and nomenclatural complexity within the Caesalpinieae is the type genus Caesalpinia, which in its broadest sense comprises c. 140 spp. and contains 25 generic names in synonymy. Of these 140 species, 12–15 predominantly Asian taxa have still to be included in molecular studies and cannot yet be assigned to any generic segregate recognised in this treatment (see notes under Caesalpinia L.). Studies by Lewis & Schrire (1995), Simpson & Miao (1997), Lewis (1998), Simpson (1998, 1999), Simpson & Lewis (2003) and Simpson et al. (2003), have clearly demonstrated that Caesalpinia, as traditionally circumscribed, is polyphyletic. In this treatment Hoffmannseggia is recognised as distinct following Simpson & Miao (1997), Simpson (1999) and Ulibarri (1979, 1996); Pomaria is also segregated from Caesalpinia sens. lat. following Simpson (1998) and Simpson & Lewis (2003). The genera Coulteria, Erythrostemon, Guilandina, Libidibia, Mezoneuron, Poincianella and Tara are also reinstated following the findings of Lewis & Schrire (1995), Lewis (1998), Simpson et al. (2003), Lewis & Bruneau (unpublished), Lewis & Lavin (unpublished) and Sotoyo (unpublished). Caesalpinia sens. strict. is, in consequence, reduced to a genus of 25 species.

The Caesalpinieae as presented here contains 56 genera and (423)–436–(448) species (Fig. 23). Thirty two of the genera contain 3 or fewer species each, with 23 monospecific (a second species of Orphanodendron has apparently been discovered in Colombia, but is, as yet, undescribed [Cogollo Pacheco, pers. comm., 2002]). A new genus, tentatively named as Heteroflorum by Sousa & Delgado (1993), but not yet formally published, is a monospecific Mexican endemic closely related to Conzattia. It is not dealt with here. The informal generic groups of tribe Caesalpinieae presented by Polhill & Vidal (1981) and Polhill (1994) are retained in part in Fig. 23 which accompanies this treatment, but there are some noteworthy exceptions. The Gleditsia and Acrocarpus groups are both subsumed into the ‘Umtiza clade’; Diptychandra is rejected from the Sclerolobium group which now becomes the Tachigali group and includes Arapatiella and Jacqueshuberia; Poeppigia is moved to the Cassieae; several genera are removed from the Peltophorum group leaving a core of nine related genera (if Heteroflorum is included); Batesia, together with Recordoxylon and Melanoxylon constitutes a new Batesia group based on the work of Haston et al. (submitted). Moldenhawera is placed in its own group as its generic relationships are currently unclear (Haston et al., submitted). The Caesalpinia group increases in size from 12 to 21 genera. Five genera are currently too poorly known for them to be placed with confidence: Campsiandra, Chidlowia, Diptychandra, Orphanodendron and Vouacapoua.

Polhill & Vidal (1981) and Polhill (1994) included the genus in the Peltophorum group of tribe Caesalpinieae, a placement confirmed by the molecular analysis of Haston et al. (2003) in which the genus groups with Colvillea and Lemuropisum in the 'core-Peltophorum group'
Habit
Trees
Ecology
Seasonally dry tropical forest, xerophytic woodland, scrubland and bushland, especially diverse on limestone
Distribution
9 endemic to Madagascar, 1 widespread in E Africa, Arabia and India, and 1 endemic to N Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia
[LOWO]

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Unarmed trees
Morphology Leaves
Leaves bipinnate; stipules (in native species) small, subulate, quickly caducous, or (in D. regia) small but leafy and forked at base into two pinnate divisions; specialized glands absent from petiole and leaf-rhachis, although clustered brown cylindrical possibly glandular hairs may be present at the insertions of the pinnae; leaflets opposite, eglandular
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences of short axillary corymbose racemes aggregated near ends of branchlets
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
Bracts small, inconspicuous, falling while the flower-buds are still young (in native species), or persistent (in D. regia)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers large, hermaphrodite
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 5, valvate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, conspicuously clawed, obovate to transversely elliptic or reniform, equal or subequal except that the upper posticous one is somewhat different from the rest in shape and colour
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 10, fertile, exserted; filaments pubescent or tomentose below, eglandular; anthers dorsifixed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary shortly stipitate, pubescent to glabrous; ovules numerous; style ± as long as the stamens, glabrous, or pubescent below, not or only somewhat enlarged near apex into a transverse, ciliate-margined, but not peltate stigma
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods linear-oblong, flattened, many-seeded, dehiscing into two woody or coriaceous valves
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds transverse, hard, flattened and oblong-elliptic (in native species), or oblong-subcylindrical (D. regia); endosperm present.
[FTEA]

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

Habit
Shrub
Ecology
Seasonally dry tropical xerophytic scrubland on exposed limestone or white sand over limestone
Distribution
endemic to SW Madagascar
Note
Polhill (1994) followed the proposals (published one year later) of Du Puy et al. (1995b) and Lewis & Schrire (1995) and moved Lemuropisum from the Caesalpinia group to the Peltophorum group of tribe Caesalpinieae; Du Puy & Rabevohitra in Du Puy et al. (2002) commented on the morphological similarity between Lemuropisum and Delonix, a relationship confirmed by the combined molecular-morphological analysis of Herendeen et al. (2003a); the genus grouped with Delonix and Colvillea in the molecular analysis of Haston et al. (2003)

Polhill & Vidal (1981) divided the Caesalpinieae into 8 informal generic groups: the Gleditsia group (2 genera), the Acrocarpus group (monogeneric), the Sclerolobium group (3 genera), the Peltophorum group (13 genera), the Caesalpinia group (16 genera), the Poeppigia and Pterogyne groups (both monogeneric) and the Dimorphandra group (10 genera). They commented that the tribe is “a remarkable mixture of relics and complexes of relatively recent speciation, providing many pitfalls for formal systematics and biogeographical interpretations”. Polhill (1994) added a ninth informal group, the monogeneric Orphanodendron group, and placed Cordeauxia as a synonym of Stuhlmannia (both genera recognised in the present treatment) so that the total of 47 genera in the tribe remained unchanged. Within the tribe, Parkinsonia (including Cercidium), Conzattia and Lemuropisum were moved from the Caesalpinia group to the Peltophorum group (Polhill, 1994) in agreement with the subsequently published works of Lewis & Schrire (1995) and Du Puy et al. (1995b).

Since 1994 several studies have cast new light on intergeneric relationships within the Caesalpinieae, necessitating the restructuring of some of the nine informal generic groups presented by Polhill (1994). As pointed out in the introduction to tribe Cassieae, the genus Ceratonia has been removed from that tribe to the Caesalpinieae, and Poeppigia has been removed from the Caesalpinieae to the Cassieae (for further detail see discussion under each genus). In the rbcL phylogeny of Doyle et al. (1997) the Caesalpinieae, as traditionally circumscribed, was shown to be paraphyletic with members scattered throughout a clade which also included genera of the Cassieae and one mimosoid genus. The molecular analysis of Kajita et al. (2001) also found the Caesalpinieae to be non-monophyletic. In the molecular analysis of Bruneau et al. (2001) some of the informal generic groups of Polhill (1994) were supported as monophyletic but the tribe as a whole was clearly demonstrated to be paraphyletic. With regard to intergeneric relationships, Pterogyne resolved as sister to a Caesalpinia group clade; Batesia and Vouacapoua fell outside a core- Peltophorum group, and the Dimorphandra group was clearly shown to be a diverse assemblage of genera, many of which share certain characteristics with the Mimosoideae, specifically with members of tribe Mimoseae (Bruneau et al., 2001). Erythrophleum was sister to a clade that comprised the majority of the Mimosoideae sampled, and Pachyelasma was sister to the two mimosoid genera Pentaclethra and Calpocalyx. Herendeen et al. (2003a) in a combined molecular-morphological analysis which expanded on the study of Bruneau et al. (2001), presented an ‘Umtiza clade’ containing Gymnocladus and Gleditsia (the two members of Polhill and Vidal’s Gleditsia Group), Umtiza (traditionally included in tribe Detarieae), Tetrapterocarpon (from the Dimorphandra Group), Acrocarpus (the sole genus of the Acrocarpus Group), and Ceratonia (from subtribe Ceratoniinae in tribe Cassieae). This new generic grouping raises some fascinating phytogeographical questions (see Schrire et al., pages 21–54, this volume). Pterogyne resolved as sister to a Chamaecrista-Senna clade (of tribe Cassieae) a relationship worthy of further study; Batesia and Vouacapoua again fell outside the core-Peltophorum group; Dimorphandra grouped with Mora as sister to all Mimosoideae, and Pachyelasma grouped with Erythrophleum as sister to the Dimorphandra-Mimosoideae clade. In the phylogenetic investigation of Haston et al. (2003), the Peltophorum group of Polhill (1994) was non-monophyletic but there was support for a core-Peltophorum group comprising Peltophorum, Parkinsonia, Schizolobium, Conzattia, Delonix, Lemuropisum, Colvillea and Bussea. Pterogyne resolved as sister to a clade containing Haematoxylum and Cordeauxia (both of the Caesalpinia group), thus supporting the earlier findings of Bruneau et al. (2001) rather than those of Herendeen et al. (2003a). Haston et al. (submitted) have further refined the relationships of the non core-Peltophorum group genera. They place Arapatiella and Jacqueshuberia with Tachigali in a newly defined Tachigali group and find strong molecular support for associating Batesia with Recordoxylon and Melanoxylon in a new Batesia group. Moldenhawera is placed in its own monogeneric group sister to a Tachigali group–core-Peltophorum group–Dimorphandra group–Mimosoideae clade. In an analysis testing the monophyly of the Umtiza clade (Herendeen et al., 2003b), Arcoa (traditionally of the Dimorphandra group) from the Dominican Republic was added to the group of genera in that clade.

Without doubt, the genus with the greatest taxonomic and nomenclatural complexity within the Caesalpinieae is the type genus Caesalpinia, which in its broadest sense comprises c. 140 spp. and contains 25 generic names in synonymy. Of these 140 species, 12–15 predominantly Asian taxa have still to be included in molecular studies and cannot yet be assigned to any generic segregate recognised in this treatment (see notes under Caesalpinia L.). Studies by Lewis & Schrire (1995), Simpson & Miao (1997), Lewis (1998), Simpson (1998, 1999), Simpson & Lewis (2003) and Simpson et al. (2003), have clearly demonstrated that Caesalpinia, as traditionally circumscribed, is polyphyletic. In this treatment Hoffmannseggia is recognised as distinct following Simpson & Miao (1997), Simpson (1999) and Ulibarri (1979, 1996); Pomaria is also segregated from Caesalpinia sens. lat. following Simpson (1998) and Simpson & Lewis (2003). The genera Coulteria, Erythrostemon, Guilandina, Libidibia, Mezoneuron, Poincianella and Tara are also reinstated following the findings of Lewis & Schrire (1995), Lewis (1998), Simpson et al. (2003), Lewis & Bruneau (unpublished), Lewis & Lavin (unpublished) and Sotoyo (unpublished). Caesalpinia sens. strict. is, in consequence, reduced to a genus of 25 species.

The Caesalpinieae as presented here contains 56 genera and (423)–436–(448) species (Fig. 23). Thirty two of the genera contain 3 or fewer species each, with 23 monospecific (a second species of Orphanodendron has apparently been discovered in Colombia, but is, as yet, undescribed [Cogollo Pacheco, pers. comm., 2002]). A new genus, tentatively named as Heteroflorum by Sousa & Delgado (1993), but not yet formally published, is a monospecific Mexican endemic closely related to Conzattia. It is not dealt with here. The informal generic groups of tribe Caesalpinieae presented by Polhill & Vidal (1981) and Polhill (1994) are retained in part in Fig. 23 which accompanies this treatment, but there are some noteworthy exceptions. The Gleditsia and Acrocarpus groups are both subsumed into the ‘Umtiza clade’; Diptychandra is rejected from the Sclerolobium group which now becomes the Tachigali group and includes Arapatiella and Jacqueshuberia; Poeppigia is moved to the Cassieae; several genera are removed from the Peltophorum group leaving a core of nine related genera (if Heteroflorum is included); Batesia, together with Recordoxylon and Melanoxylon constitutes a new Batesia group based on the work of Haston et al. (submitted). Moldenhawera is placed in its own group as its generic relationships are currently unclear (Haston et al., submitted). The Caesalpinia group increases in size from 12 to 21 genera. Five genera are currently too poorly known for them to be placed with confidence: Campsiandra, Chidlowia, Diptychandra, Orphanodendron and Vouacapoua.

[LOWO]

Uses

Use
Cultivated for shade and as living fence lines; D. regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf. (flamboyant, royal poinciana, flame tree) widely planted throughout the tropics and subtropics as a showy ornamental of streets, parks and gardens; other species with high ornamental potential; some species produce resin used as glue, or sucked as sweets; the trunks of a few species are hollowed out to make canoes; seeds are crushed and eaten as a snack
[LOWO]

Use
Young (usually raw) seeds of L. edule H.Perrier provide human food; great potential as a food crop for arid lands although mature seeds contain toxins
[LOWO]

Sources

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
  • Legumes of the World Online

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0