Newtonia Baill.

First published in Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Paris 1: 721 (1888)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Tropical & S. Africa.

Descriptions

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

Morphology General Habit
Trees, often tall, unarmed
Morphology Leaves
Leaves bipinnate; pinnae each with one to many pairs of leaflets; rhachis of leaf usually (always in our species) with a gland between each pair of opposite pinnae
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers sessile or nearly so, in spikes or spiciform racemes Flowers and pods otherwise as in Piptadeniastrum (p. 21)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx and petals pubescent or puberulous outside
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
Anthers with or without an apical gland
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary densely pilose outside
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds flattened, oblong, brown, surrounded by a membranous wing; the body of the seed much elongate in the direction of the length of the pod; cotyledons elongate in the same direction as the radicle; funicle slender, attached at or near one end of the seed.
[FTEA]

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

Morphology General Habit
Trees, unarmed
Morphology Leaves
Leaves bipinnate, with a gland between each pair of opposite pinnae
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers sessile or almost so, in spikes or spike-like racemes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 5-lobed, pubescent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, free
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 10; anthers with or without an apical gland
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod flat, at maturity dehiscing along one margin, the valves remaining attached along the other
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds flat, winged.
Distribution
Genus with 16 species in tropical Africa and some four species in tropical America, the latter perhaps generically distinct.
[FSOM]

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

Habit
Trees and lianas
Ecology
Tropical rain forest, both high and low elevations, riparian and swamp forest; littoral or sublittoral deciduous forest, woodland and bushland
Distribution
Africa (11 spp. in WC and W regions, 2 spp. extending to Zambezian regions; 3 spp. in the Somalia-Masai, Zanzibar-Inhambane and Zambezian regions of E and SE Africa)
Note
Lewis & Elias (1981: 161) place this in the Newtonia group with Cylicodiscus and Indopiptadenia

The tribe Mimoseae (sensu Bentham, 1875) is retained here simply as a matter of convenience. All recent phylogenetic analyses indicate that Ingeae and Acacieae are derived from within Mimoseae (Chappill & Maslin, 1995; Käss & Wink, 1996; Luckow et al., 2000; Bruneau et al., 2001; Luckow et al., 2003; Herendeen et al., 2003a), making it a paraphyletic group at best. The most recent studies indicate that it may not even be monophyletic with respect to the Caesalpinioideae (Luckow et al., 2000; Bruneau et al., 2001; Luckow et al., 2003).

Although the outline of a new tribal classification of the mimosoids is emerging, we await better-supported phylogenies (based on more extensive data) before formalising new stable and useful groups. Some parts of the classification proposed here are better supported than others. Notably, the basal branches in Fig. 24 are poorly supported in most analyses and the relationships among the groups are likely to change as we acquire more data. As presently indicated (Luckow et al., 2003), the type genus Mimosa falls within the derived Piptadenia group which is in turn sister, and basally branching, to elements of Acacia and Ingeae (Fig. 24). A more narrowly circumscribed Mimoseae sens. strict. will thus leave the bulk of Mimoseae sens. lat. (i.e., as treated here) in need of new tribal allocation. The most conspicuous difference between the classification presented here and that of Lewis & Elias (1981) is the inclusion of tribe Parkieae within Mimoseae. The former was circumscribed based on imbricate aestivation of the calyx, and was considered the basal tribe within the Mimosoideae (Elias, 1981a). Recent phylogenetic analyses (Chappill & Maslin, 1995; Luckow et al., 2000; Bruneau et al., 2001; Luckow et al., 2003; Herendeen et al., 2003a), indicate that the two genera in the Parkieae, Parkia and Pentaclethra, are not sister taxa (Fig. 24). Pentaclethra is nested within Mimoseae in Luckow et al. (2000), but is either sister to caesalpinioid taxa in Bruneau et al. (2001) and Herendeen et al. (2003a), or part of a basal polytomy with Mimoseae and caesalpinioid taxa (Luckow et al., 2003). Both Parkia and Pentaclethra are included in the tribe Mimoseae pending additional data and tribal recircumscription.

Recent work (Luckow et al., submitted a) also indicates that the monospecific tribe Mimozygantheae should be subsumed in the Mimoseae near Piptadeniopsis and Prosopidastrum, currently in the Prosopis group. Otherwise, the informal groups within the Mimoseae recognised by Lewis & Elias (1981) are relatively well-supported by current phylogenies and only a few departures have been made from their system. Where relationships are either poorly supported or unresolved, the classification of Lewis & Elias (1981) is retained. The Xylia group is dismantled and the Adenanthera group recircumscribed to include Calpocalyx and Xylia . Desmanthus has been removed from the Dichrostachys group, as has Neptunia, in agreement with recent molecular and morphological phylogenetic studies (Harris et al., 1994; Hughes, 1998; Luckow, 1995, 1997). A new group is erected to accommodate Piptadeniastrum which is well separated from Newtonia in the most recent phylogeny (Luckow et al., 2000; 2003), and another to accommodate Cylicodiscus, which is more closely related to the clade containing the Prosopis, Leucaena, Dichrostachys, and Piptadenia groups than it is to the Newtonia group. Neptunia is well supported as sister to Prosopidastrum in recent analyses (Luckow et al., 2003) and is included in the Prosopis group here. Relationships of genera in the Prosopis group are not resolved, but the group is retained here as there is no evidence that it is not monophyletic. Genera newly described since 1981 include Alantsilodendron, Calliandropsis, Kanaloa, and Lemurodendron. Alantsilodendron and Calliandropsis are placed in the Dichrostachys group, and Kanaloa in the Leucaena group based on phylogenetic analyses (Hughes, 1998; Luckow, 1997; Luckow et al., 2000). Lemurodendron is tentatively included in the Newtonia group as suggested by Villiers & Guinet (1989). As treated here the Mimoseae comprises 40 genera and from (859)– 869–(879) species.

[LOWO]

Leguminosae, J.P.M. Brenan. Flora Zambesiaca 3:1. 1970

Morphology General Habit
Trees, often tall, unarmed.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 2-pinnate; pinnae each with one to many pairs of leaflets; rhachis of leaf usually (always in our species) with a gland between each pair of opposite pinnae.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers sessile or nearly so, in spikes or spiciform racemes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx gamosepalous, 5-toothed. Calyx and petals pubescent or puberulous outside, sometimes on the margins only.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, free, separated from the gynophore base by a short perigynous zone.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 10, fertile; anthers with or without an apical gland.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary densely pilose outside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods straight or somewhat curved, flattened, at maturity dehiscing along one of the margins, the valves remaining attached along the other, splitting neither transversely nor into layers.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds flattened, oblong, brown, surrounded by a membranous wing; the body of the seed much elongated in the direction of the length of the pod; cotyledons elongate in the same direction as the radicle; funicle slender, attached at or near one end of the seed.
[FZ]

Uses

Use
Various species used for timber (e.g., N. buchananii (Baker) G.C.C.Gilbert & Boutique, lokundu, omutoyo ) in construction, cabinetry, frames, joinery, railway sleepers and canoe making; the bark of at least one species has reputed aphrodisiac properties, also used for medicine and as shade plants
[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
  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images
  • 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