Melanoxylum Schott in K.F.A.von Schreibers, Nachr. Oesterr . Naturf. Bras. 2(Anh.): 52. 1822.

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

Melanoxylum Schott in K.F.A.von Schreibers, Nachr. Oesterr. Naturf. Bras. 2(Anh.): 52. 1822.

Figs 22 , 23 , 26

Melanoxylon Schott, Syst. Veg., ed. 16 [Sprengel] 4(2): Cur. Post. 406. 1827, orth. var.

Perittium Vogel, 1837. Linnaea 11: 408. 1837. Type: Perittium ferrugineum Vogel [= Melanoxylum brauna Schott]

Type.

Melanoxylum brauna Schott

Description.

Unarmed trees, bark thick. Stipules caducous. Leaves spiral, imparipinnate; extrafloral nectaries absent; leaflets 11-21, opposite to subopposite. Inflorescence a panicle; bracts and bracteoles caducous. Flowers perigynous, bilaterally symmetrical; hypanthium infundibuliform; sepals 5, free; petals 5, yellow, free, clawed, glabrous; stamens 10, slightly heteromorphic, filaments ferruginous tomentose at the base, anthers longitudinally dehiscent; pollen unknown; ovary 11-13-ovulate, ferruginous tomentose. Fruit an oblong, slightly curved, compressed legume, dehiscing through both margins, valves with raised transverse ribs, tomentose, endocarp breaking up into one seeded transversely oblong envelopes. Seeds oblong-depressed, with smooth, opaque and dark reddish testa.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Included species and geographic distribution.

Monospecific ( M. brauna ), restricted to Brazil, occurring predominantly along the eastern Brazilian coast, but entering the interior in drier vegetations (Fig. 26 ).

Ecology.

Melanoxylum brauna occurs preferentially in wet habitats, mostly in tropical rainforests; its occurrence in drier Brazilian vegetation (seasonally deciduous and semi-deciduous Forests) is apparently associated with wetter areas within these ecosystems.

Human uses.

The timber of M. brauna is largely used in the construction of fine furniture, and the bark is a source of tannin for medicinal purposes ( Lewis 2005b).

Etymology.

Melano + xylon from Greek meaning “black” and “wood”, respectively. The name is related to the black heartwood of the plant ( Lewis 2005b).

Notes.

Melanoxylum is characterised by its imparipinnate leaves, and by its dense inflorescence and characteristic fruit, an oblong legume, slightly curved with articulate endocarp, breaking up into transversely oblong parts.

Taxonomic references.

Lewis (2005b); Queiroz (2009); Rando et al. (2020a).

Figures

Figure 22. Examples of variation in stamens and pistil among Cassieae genera A Cassia moschata Kunth (Rando et al. 1184) B Senna macranthera (DC. ex Collad.) H. S. Irwin & Barneby (Rando et al. 272) C Chamaecrista bahiae (H. S. Irwin) H. S. Irwin & Barneby (Rando et al. 1214) D Melanoxylum brauna Schott (Cardoso et al. 2439) E Recordoxylon speciosum (Benoist) Gazel ex Barneby (Pereira-Silva et al. 15631) F Vouacapoua americana Aubl (Nascimento 245). G Batesia floribunda Spruce ex Benth (based on photographs of Projeto Flora Reserva Ducke, INPA / DFID, comm. Mike Hopkins). Scale: 1 cm. Drawn by Najla M. B. Scheidegger / @ ilustre. nt.

Figure 23. Examples of Batesia, Melanoxylum, Recordoxylon and Vouacapoua diversity A Batesia floribunda Spruce ex Benth. extrafloral nectary, petiolules and part of leaflets (Cota 1158) B, C Vouacapoua americana Aubl. (Cardoso et al. 3450) B leaves and immature fruit C mature fruits and seeds on the ground D, E Melanoxylum brauna Schott (Cardoso et al. 2439) D inflorescence, buds and flowers E flower F-H Recordoxylon speciosum (Benoist) Gazel ex Barneby (Pereira-Silva et al. 15631) F trunk of mature individual G flowers and immature fruit H flower. Photo credits A-E D Cardoso F-H G Pereira-Silva.

Figure 26. Distribution of Melanoxylum based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.