Stachyothyrsus Harms, Nat. Pflanzenfam. Nachtr. 1: 198. 1897.

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

Stachyothyrsus Harms, Nat. Pflanzenfam. Nachtr. 1: 198. 1897.

Figs 88 , 89 , 92

Kaoue Pellegr., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 80: 464. 1933. Type: Kaoue stapfiana (A. Chev.) Pellegr. [≡ Oxystigma stapfiana A. Chev. (≡ Stachyothyrsus stapfiana (A. Chev.) J. Léonard & Voorh.)]

Type.

Stachyothyrsus staudtii Harms

Description.

Unarmed trees 20-25 (30) m; trunk not buttressed; brachyblasts absent; glabrous. Stipules small, caducous. Leaves bipinnate, rachis 4-20 cm; pinnae 2 pairs; leaflets 3-5 pairs per pinna, opposite, glabrous, venation reticulate. Inflorescences spiciform racemes, sometimes arranged in paniculate synflorescences; bracts triangular-rounded, persistent. Flowers small, whitish, fragrant, 5-merous, diplostemonous; calyx short, cupuliform; petals obovate-oblong; stamens dimorphic, the 5 antesepalous slightly longer than the 5 antepetalous (shorter), anther glands absent; pollen tricolpate monads; ovary short, 2-3-ovulate, style short, stigma slightly bilobed. Fruit dehiscent legume, curved, flat, 1-2-seeded. Seeds irregular shaped, dark.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Included species and geographic distribution.

Two species, restricted to the central-west coast of Africa in Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone ( S. stapfiana J. Leonard & Voorhoeve), and Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo ( S. staudtii ) (Fig. 92 ).

Ecology.

Stachyothyrsus occurs in tropical rainforests, including swamps, along river banks, and secondary forests.

Etymology.

From Greek, Stachys (= spike) and thyrsus (= wand, panicle), in reference to the spicate inflorescences aggregated into showy panicles.

Human uses.

Stachyothyrsus stapfiana leaves are used for thatching, while its wood has only limited importance ( Brink 2010).

Notes.

Stachyothyrsus is most closely related to Burkea (the genera have stamens arising at the insertion or just slightly above the ovary insertion), but they are easily distinguished by the opposite, less numerous and larger leaflets in Stachyothyrsus . In addition, Stachyothyrsus species occur only in rainforests along the west coast of Africa, whereas Burkea is widely distributed in African savannas and dry forests.

Taxonomic references.

Aubréville (1959); Hutchinson and Dalziel (1958); Savill and Fox (1967); Voorhoeve (1979).

Figures

Figure 88. Leaves and inflorescences of tribe Dimorphandreae A Mora paraensis (Ducke) Ducke (Simon 1663) B Stachyothyrsus staudtii Harms C Burkea africana Hook. D Dimorphandra mediocris Ducke (Simon 4209) E Dimorphandra cuprea Sprague & Sandwith (Farronay 1804) F Dimorphandra parviflora Spruce ex Benth. (Simon 1176) G Dimorphandra mollis Benth. H Dimorphandra pennigera Tul. I Dimorphandra ignea Ducke J Dimorphandra vernicosa Spreng. ex Benth. (Cardoso 3279) K Burkea africana L Dimorphandra gardneriana Tul. (Silva 21). Photo credits A, D, F, G MF Simon B Nicolas Texier (CC-BY-NC-ND- 3.0) C AR Lecuona (CC-BY-NC- 4.0) E, H, I F Javier Farronay Pacaya J D Cardoso K AE van Wyk and S Malan L G Sousa da Silva.

Figure 89. Flowers and fruits of the tribe Dimorphandreae A Dimorphandra cuprea Sprague & Sandwith (Farronay 1804) B Dimorphandra pennigera Tul. C Dimorphandra vernicosa Spreng. ex Benth. (Cardoso 3279) D Dimorphandra ignea Ducke E Stachyothyrsus staudtii Harms F Dimorphandra gardneriana Tul. (Simon 2715) G Dimorphandra macrostachya Benth. (Silva 540) H Dimorphandra cuprea Sprague & Sandwith (Farronay 1804) I Stachyothyrsus staudtii Harms J Burkea africana Hook. K-M Mora paraensis (Ducke) Ducke (K, L Costa 28). Photo credits A, B, D, H F Javier Farronay Pacaya C D Cardoso E Flora of the world F MF Simon G G Sousa da Silva I N Texier (CC-BY-NC-ND- 3.0) J C Sydes (CC-BY-NC- 4.0) K, L J Barbosa Pedrosa Costa M A Rocha Dantas.

Figure 92. Distribution of Stachyothyrsus based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.