Ticanto Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 319. 1763.

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

Ticanto Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 319. 1763.

Figs 37 , 65

Caesalpinia sect. Nugaria DC., Prodr. [A.P. de Candolle] 2: 481. 1825. Type not designated.

Type.

Guilandina paniculata Lam. [= Ticanto crista (L.) R. Clark & Gagnon]

Description.

Scandent shrubs or lianas to 15 m. Stems usually with scattered, recurved prickles. Stipules triangular, caducous. Leaves bipinnate, leaf rachis with recurved prickles at base of pinnae and usually scattered in between, pinnae in 1-16 opposite pairs; leaflets in 2-15 opposite pairs per pinna. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme or panicle, bracts (at base of racemes) and bracteoles (at base of pedicels) caducous; pedicels articulated. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic; hypanthium persisting as a small cup as the fruit matures; sepals 5, caducous, the lower lobe cucullate over the others in bud; petals 5, the median petal distinct from the others in shape, usually with a ± circular patch of hairs on the inner surface, the lateral petals glabrous or with few hairs; stamens 10, free, the basal half tomentose; ovary 1-2-ovuled, glabrous or hairy, stigma funnel-shaped and more or less papillate, or truncate. Fruit coriaceous or ligneous, dehiscent or indehiscent, elliptic, lunate, or suborbicular, the upper suture lacking a wing, or with a narrow wing up to 4 mm wide, one species with a carinate wing 5-6 mm deep, fruit usually glabrous, otherwise tomentose, 1 (2)-seeded. Seeds circular to reniform, compressed.

Chromosome number.

2 n = 24 ( T. crista ) ( Fedorov 1969).

Included species and geographic distribution.

Nine species, mainly in southern and central China, with a few records in Laos, Myanmar, northern Thailand, and northern Vietnam, and one species ( T. crista ) throughout South East Asia, extending into Australia and Oceania (Fig. 65 ).

Ecology.

Scrub or (riverine) forests, on limestone or in sandy parts of mangroves, up to 1800 m elevation.

Etymology.

Ticanto was a vernacular name used for these plants by the Brachmanes (Brahmans or Brahmins), a sector of Hinduism.

Human uses.

Numerous studies report pharmacological uses of Caesalpinia crista but appear to concern the species Guilandina bonduc to which the name Caesalpinia crista is often erroneously applied. Confirmed uses of true C. crista are not known to the present authors.

Notes.

Ticanto is a genus recently re-instated by Clark et al. (2022), who provide a taxonomic revision of the genus including a key to the species. Previously, a single binomial was published under this genus name, Ticanto nuga (L.) Medik., now a synonym of Ticanto crista .

Taxonomic references.

Adanson (1763); Chen et al. (2010a); Clark et al. (2022); Gagnon et al. (2016); Hattink (1974); Rumphius (1747); Van Rheede (1686); Vidal and Hul Thol (1976).

Figures

Figure 37. Fruits of the Caesalpinieae A Gelrebia rubra (Engl.) Gagnon & G. P. Lewis, Namibia B Moullava spicata (Dalzell ex Wight) Nicolson, India, Maharashtra C Hultholia mimosoides (Lam.) Gagnon & G. P. Lewis, India D Guilandina bonduc L., Madagascar E Pterolobium stellatum (Forssk.) Brenan, Zimbabwe F Ticanto sinensis (Hemsley) R. Clark & Gagnon, China (Clark 415) G Biancaea decapetala (Roth) O. Deg., Peru, Ancash (Hughes et al. 2227) H Mezoneuron kauaiense (H. Mann) Hillebr. I Mezoneuron andamanicum Prain, Thailand (Clark 251). Photo credits A Dave U, iNaturalist (https: // www. inaturalist. org / photos / 41085094) B P Awale, Flowers of India (http: // www. flowersofindia. net /) C VR Vinayaraj, India Biodiversity Portal (https: // indiabiodiversity. org / observation / show / 335158), the basionym of Hultholia mimosoides D GP Lewis E BT Wursten, Flora of Zimbabwe (https: // www. zimbabweflora. co. zw / speciesdata / image-display. php? species _ id = 127190 & image _ id = 1) F, I P Suksathan G CE Hughes H D Eickhoff, https: // www. flickr. com / photos / dweickhoff / 4822012867 / in / photostream /.

Figure 65. Distribution of Ticanto based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.