Paraserianthes I.C. Nielsen, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia 5: 326. 1983.

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

Paraserianthes I.C. Nielsen, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia 5: 326. 1983.

Figs 226 , 227 , 228 , 236

Albizia sect. Lophantha ser. Pachyspermae Benth., Trans. Linn. Soc., London 30: 559. 1875, nom. illeg. Type: Albizia lophantha (Willd.) Benth. [≡ Acacia lophantha Willd. (≡ Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I.C. Nielsen)]

Albizia sect. Pachyspermae (Benth.) Fosberg, Reinwardtia 7: 74. 1965. Type: Albizia lophantha (Willd.) Benth. [≡ Acacia lophantha Willd. (≡ Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I.C. Nielsen)]

Type.

Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I.C. Nielsen [≡ Acacia lophantha Willd.]

Description.

Unarmed shrub or tree to 10 m. Stipules to 2 mm long, either linear, puberulous and caducous ( P. lophantha subsp. lophantha ), or subcordate-triangular to ovate-lanceolate and densely tomentose [ P. lophantha subsp. montana (Jungh.) I.C. Nielsen]. Leaves bipinnate, extrafloral nectaries present, elliptic to oblong on the petiole, smaller circular glands sometimes between the terminal pairs of pinnae and/or leaflets; pinnae 7-14 pairs, opposite; leaflets 15-40 pairs, sessile, opposite, inequilaterally narrowly oblong to lanceolate to oblong. Inflorescences solitary or paired axillary racemes, 5.2-18 cm long. Flowers uniform, bisexual, 5-merous, yellowish-green; calyx gamosepalous, narrowly cup-shaped; corolla gamopetalous, funnel-shaped; stamens numerous and united into a tube at the base; pollen in 16-celled polyads, with costae (pores surrounded by distinct thickenings), surface with few tectal channels; ovary sessile ( P. lophantha subsp. montana ) or shortly stipitate to subsessile ( P. lophantha subsp. lophantha ). Fruits chartaceous, flat, straight-edged and dehiscent along both sutures. Seeds subcircular-elliptic or oblong, black, hard testa, flat or convex and wingless, with U-shaped pleurogram.

Chromosome number.

2 n = 26 ( Tjio 1948; Fedorov 1969; Rice et al. 2015).

Included species and geographic distribution.

Monospecific ( P. lophantha ), with two recognised subspecies: P. lophantha subsp. lophantha , native to south-west Western Australia, and P. lophantha subsp. montana , native to Sumatra and Java, and the Lesser Sunda islands of Bali and Flores (Fig. 236 ). Paraserianthes lophantha is naturalised in eastern Australia and has become a significant weed in South Africa, the Canary Islands, Chile, New Zealand, Portugal, southern California, and South America ( Brown et al. 2020).

Ecology.

In Australia, Paraserianthes occurs in coastal forests, and coastal or near-coastal open eucalypt forest, thicket, shrubland and grassland ( Cowan 1998; Lewis and Rico Arce 2005). In Malesia, subspecies Paraserianthes montana is found in montane forests, elfin forests and on grassy plains on crater-slopes ( Nielsen et al. 1983b).

Etymology.

The Greek prefix para (= close by) refers to the similarity of this genus to Serianthes ( Cowan 1998).

Human uses.

Paraserianthes lophantha is an ecologically, horticulturally and economically important species across the tropics. It has been planted as part of reforestation programs for its rapid growth, as an ornamental, and also as a shade tree in cocoa and coffee plantations ( Nielsen 1992; Barneby and Grimes 1996; Lewis and Rico Arce 2005). Fruits, wood and bark of Paraserianthes have been used for human food, firewood, charcoal, paper pulp, crates, light furniture and fibre for packing purposes and also as substitute for soap ( Nielsen 1992; Lewis and Rico Arce 2005).

Notes.

Paraserianthes was originally described with two sections (sect. Paraserianthes Paraserianthes and sect. Paraserianthes Falcataria ; Nielsen et al. 1983a). These were later raised to generic rank by Barneby and Grimes (1996) reducing Paraserianthes to a monospecific genus. Phylogenetic data supports this segregation ( Brown et al. 2011, 2022; Demeulenaere et al. 2022; Ringelberg et al. 2022), but the relationship between the two geographically disjunct subspecies has not been tested as P. lophantha subsp. montana has not been sampled in genetic studies.

Taxonomic references.

Barneby and Grimes (1996); Brown et al. (2011); Cowan (1998); Nielsen (1992); Nielsen et al. (1983b).

Figures

Figure 226. Habit and leaf morphology diversity in genera of the Archidendron clade A Archidendron clypearia (Jack) I. C. Nielsen B Heliodendron thozetianum (F. Muell.) Gill. K. Br. & Bayly C Falcataria falcata (L.) Greuter & R. Rankin D Heliodendron basalticum (F. Muell.) Gill. K. Br. & Bayly E Serianthes kanehirae Fosberg var. kanehirae F Serianthes kanehirae var. yapensis Fosberg G Pararchidendron pruinosum (Benth.) I. C. Nielsen H Paraserianthes lophantha subsp. montana (Jungh.) Benth. with tomentose stems and leaves I Wallaceodendron celebicum Koord. Photo credits A C Ng B R Cumming C J Teo D D Richter E, F JB Friday G G Brown H F and K Starr I Plantoholic Sheila.

Figure 227. Inflorescence and flower diversity of genera in the Archidendron clade A Archidendron vaillantii (F. Muell.) F. Muell. B Archidendropsis paivana (E. Fourn.) I. C. Nielsen C Falcataria falcata (L.) Greuter & R. Rankin D Heliodendron thozetianum (F. Muell.) Gill. K. Br. & Bayly E Serianthes sp. F Pararchidendron pruinosum (Benth.) I. C. Nielsen G Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I. C. Nielsen H Wallaceodendron celebicum Koord. Photo credits A, F A Furhmann B B Henry C JB Friday D S Worboys E T Rodd G AndyBonsai H Plantaholic Sheila.

Figure 228. Fruit and seed diversity of genera in the Archidendron clade A fruit of Archidendron lucyi F. Muell. (Brown 169) B open pod of Archidendropsis streptocarpa (E. Fourn.) I. C. Nielsen showing winged seeds C opened pod of Falcataria falcata (L.) Greuter & R. Rankin D Heliodendron xanthoxylon (C. T. White & W. D. Francis) Gill. K. Br. & Bayly opened pod (Hyland 9229) E Heliodendron basalticum (F. Muell.) Gill. K. Br. & Bayly winged seeds (Canning & B. Rimes 6173) F-H Serianthes dilmyi Fosberg showing the indehiscent (to very tardily dehiscent) (rarely) woody pods with transverse seeds which are each isolated in a chamber I Pararchidendron pruinosum (Benth.) I. C. Nielsen fruit and seedling J Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I. C. Nielsen immature pods (Brown 204 A) K Wallaceodendron celebicum Koord. pod. Photo credits A, I, J G Brown B B Henry C JB Friday D, E Queensland Herbarium F-H R CJ Lim K Plantaholic Sheila.

Figure 236. Distribution of Paraserianthes based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.