Pseudoprosopis Harms, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 33: 152. 1902.

Bruneau, Anne, de Queiroz, Luciano Paganucci, Ringelberg, Jens J., Borges, Leonardo M., Bortoluzzi, Roseli Lopes da Costa, Brown, Gillian K., Cardoso, Domingos B. O. S., Clark, Ruth P., Conceicao, Adilva de Souza, Cota, Matheus Martins Teixeira, Demeulenaere, Else, de Stefano, Rodrigo Duno, Ebinger, John E., Ferm, Julia, Fonseca-Cortes, Andres, Gagnon, Edeline, Grether, Rosaura, Guerra, Ethiene, Haston, Elspeth, Herendeen, Patrick S., Hernandez, Hector M., Hopkins, Helen C. F., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau, Hughes, Colin E., Ickert-Bond, Stefanie M., Iganci, Joao, Koenen, Erik J. M., Lewis, Gwilym P., de Lima, Haroldo Cavalcante, de Lima, Alexandre Gibau, Luckow, Melissa, Marazzi, Brigitte, Maslin, Bruce R., Morales, Matias, Morim, Marli Pires, Murphy, Daniel J., O'Donnell, Shawn A., Oliveira, Filipe Gomes, Oliveira, Ana Carla da Silva, Rando, Juliana Gastaldello, Ribeiro, Petala Gomes, Ribeiro, Carolina Lima, Santos, Felipe da Silva, Seigler, David S., da Silva, Guilherme Sousa, Simon, Marcelo F., Soares, Marcos Vinicius Batista & Terra, Vanessa, 2024, Advances in Legume Systematics 14. Classification of Caesalpinioideae. Part 2: Higher-level classification, PhytoKeys 240, pp. 1-552 : 1

Pseudoprosopis Harms, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 33: 152. 1902.

Figs 104 , 105 , 106 , 111

Type.

Pseudoprosopis fischeri (Taub.) Harms [≡ Prosopis fischeri Taub.]

Description.

Large woody lianas or scandent shrubs or small trees, 3-6 m, coppicing in one species; unarmed but sometimes having large, hooked, lignified tendrils for climbing (Fig. 104F ), stems longitudinally striate with corky ridges; brachyblasts absent. Stipules small, linear to triangular, caducous; the leaf node often bearing small, mounded glands on either side of the stipule scars. Leaves bipinnate, foliar nectaries absent; pinnae opposite to subopposite, 1-3 in species with macrophyllous leaflets, 3-12 in those with smaller leaflets, 3.5-18 cm long; leaflets opposite, short petiolulate, 2-4 pairs per pinna in macrophyllous species, lanceolate, 7-28 pairs in the microphyllous ones, oblong to linear. Inflorescences racemes 4-13 cm long, solitary or 2-3 per node, usually grouped in leafless terminal pseudopanicles borne above the foliage, inflorescence axes densely pubescent. Flowers hermaphrodite, fragrant, pedicellate, jointed between the pedicel and the attenuate calyx, the pedicels remaining as small mounds or pegs when the flowers abscise (Fig. 105F ), floral bracts 3-lobed, enlarged; calyx connate, 5-lobed, obconic to cupulate, attenuate basally forming a pseudopedicel, valvate in bud; petals 5, free, white or cream, often abaxially pubescent and rusty or brown, reflexed, valvate in bud; stamens 10, free, filaments and anthers bright yellow, anther gland present, stipitate; pollen in calymmate 8 or 16-grained polyads; ovary sessile or stipitate, stigma porate. Fruit a woody, explosively dehiscent legume, valves reflexed after dehiscence, clavate to elliptical (Fig. 106C ), 6-16 × 1-3 cm, 6-11-seeded; exocarp dark brown to black, obliquely striate. Seeds inserted obliquely, testa hard, pleurogram present.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Included species and geographic distribution.

Seven species in the Guineo-Congolian region to Tanzania and south through Mozambique (Fig. 111 ).

Ecology.

Lowland humid and sub-humid forests in Guineo-Congolian region, where they may occur in primary forests and also in secondary forests and riparian areas. In Tanzania and Mozambique, they are found on the edges of evergreen and deciduous gallery forests, or in thickets in cutover regions.

Etymology.

Pseudo (false) and Prosopis, referring to its similarity to the genus Prosopis L.

Human uses.

Used as a fish poison in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( Villiers 1983).

Notes.

Pseudoprosopis is the only genus in the Adenanthera clade having the liana habit. The uncinate lignified tendrils on the stems, although not universal in the genus, are also distinctive. Two species, Ps. bampsiana Lisowski, and Ps. euryphylla Harms are listed as vulnerable and near-threatened respectively by IUCN.

Taxonomic references.

Brenan (1959); Lisowski (1982); Villiers (1983), all with illustrations.

Figures

Figure 104. Habit and growth form in the Adenanthera clade A Xylia xylocarpa var. kerrii (Craib & Hutch.) I. C. Nielsen scaly bark B Xylia torreana Brenan canopy C Pentaclethra macroloba (Willd.) Kuntze trunk showing buttresses D Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. canopy (Harris 9659) E Amblygonocarpus andongensis (Welw. ex Oliv.) Exell & Torre pale grey, scaly bark (Catarino 2067) F Pseudoprosopis gilletii (De Wild.) Villiers liana with leaves and lignified tendrils (Texier 1558) G Adenanthera pavonina L. thin scaly bark H habit I Amblygonocarpus andongensis (Welw. ex Oliv.) Exell & Torre growing in savanna (Coates Palgrave M 806). Photo credits A Dechaphaetkrathok B F du Randt C D DeMelo D DJ Harris E L Catarino F N Texier G, H Shelbyfarmer I M Coates Palgrave.

Figure 105. Flowers and inflorescences in the Adenanthera clade A Adenanthera pavonina L. inflorescence B, C Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. (Harris 9663) B reflexed petals and white filaments on the flowers C racemose inflorescence D Xylia hoffmannii (Vatke) Drake umbellate inflorescence (Ratovoson 838) E Calpocalyx klainei Pierre ex Harms inflorescence (Texia 976) F Pseudoprosopis bampsiana Lisowski flower detail showing pseudopedicels (Bidault 2515) G, H Pentaclethra macroloba (Willd.) Kuntze G inflorescences congested at the ends of branches H close-up of the inflorescence showing the long filamentous staminodes. Photo credits A CheongWeei Gan B, C DJ Harris D F Ratovoson E N Texia F E Bidault G, H D Cardoso.

Figure 106. Fruits and seeds in the Adenanthera clade A Adenanthera pavonina L. dehisced fruits with exposed persistent red seeds B Amblygonocarpus andongensis (Welw. ex Oliv.) Exell & Torre Indehiscent four-angled fruits (Catarino 2067) C Pseudoprosopis fischeri Harms young fruit (Bingham 8055) D Xylia xylocarpa var. kerrii (Craib & Hutch.) I. C. Nielsen young dolabriform pod E Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. immature winged, indehiscent pod (Harris 9659) F Pentaclethra macrophylla Benth. pod and recalcitrant seeds G, H Calpocalyx ngouniensis Pellegr. woody valves from dehisced pod (Texier 695). Photo credits A Shelbyfarmer B L Catarino C MG Bingham D B Peroth E DJ Harris 9659 F CJ Porto, Fundacion Tierra Iberica G H N Texier.

Figure 111. Distribution of Pseudoprosopis based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.