The Mimosoideae are a traditional

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petals that are twice divided (valvate) in bud and with numerous showy, prominent stamens. Recent work on phylogenetic relationships has found that the Mimosoideae form a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

nested with subfamily

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name '' Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae a ...

and the most recent classification by ''The Legume Phylogeny Working Group'' refer to them as the Mimosoid clade within subfamily

. The group includes about 40 genera and 2,500 species.

Taxonomy

Some classification systems, for example the Cronquist system, treat the Fabaceae in a narrow sense, raising the Mimisoideae to the rank of family as Mimosaceae. The

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disc ...

treats Fabaceae in the broad sense. The Mimosoideae were historically subdivided into four tribes (Acacieae, Ingeae, Mimoseae, and Mimozygantheae). However, modern

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

has shown that these groupings were artificial. Several informal subgroups have been proposed, but not yet described formally as tribes. Additionally, the genus ''Acacia'' was recently segregated into five genera (''Acacia sensu stricto'', ''Acaciella'', ''Mariosousa'', ''Senegalia'', and ''Vachellia'').

Basal Mimosoideae

* ''Adenanthera'' group ** ''

Adenanthera ''Adenanthera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains the following species: * ''Adenanthera bicolor'' Elmer Drew Merrill, Merr. (Sri Lanka) * ''Adenanthera intermedia'' Elmer Drew Merrill, Merr. (Philippines) * ''Ad ...

'' L. ** ''

Amblygonocarpus ''blygonocarpus'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its single species, ''Amblygonocarpus andongensis'', is a tree native to sub-Saharan Africa. The genus belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caes ...

'' Harms ** '' Calpocalyx'' Harms ** ''

Pseudoprosopis ''Pseudoprosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes seven species of shrubs, lianas, or small trees native to tropical Africa. Typical habitats include tropical rain forest, gallery forest, seasonally-dry forest, ...

'' Harms ** '' Tetrapleura'' Benth. ** ''

Xylia ''Xylia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Mainland Southeast Asia. Species ''Xylia'' includes nine accepted species: * ''Xylia africana'' Harms * ''Xylia evansii'' Hutch ...

'' Benth. * ''Entada'' group ** '' Elephantorrhiza'' Benth. ** ''

Entada ''Entada'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It consists of some 30 species of trees, shrubs and tropical lianas. About 21 species are known from Africa, six from A ...

'' Adans. ** ''

Piptadeniastrum ''Piptadeniastrum africanum'' is a tall deciduous tree within the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to the humid tropics of sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal to Sudan and Angola. It is the sole species in genus ''Piptadeniastrum''. It ...

'' Brenan * ''Newtonia'' group ** ''

Fillaeopsis ''Fillaeopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains a single species, ''Fillaeopsis discophora''. It is a tree native to Nigeria and west-central ...

'' Harms ** ''

Indopiptadenia ''Indopiptadenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains a single species, ''Indopiptadenia oudhensis'', a tree native to the western and central Himalayas, including Nepal, and Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The ge ...

'' Brenan ** ''

Lemurodendron ''Lemurodendron'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It contains a single species, ''Lemurodendron capuronii'', a tree endemic to Madagascar.Newtonia'' Baill. * ''Prosopis'' group ** ''

Neltuma ''Neltuma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae). It includes 43 species native to the Americas, which were previously placed in genus ''Prosopis''. The species range from the southwestern and central United States through ...

'' Raf. ** ''

Prosopis ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The current circumscription of the genus contains three species found in northern Africa, the Middle East, Central and South Asia. Previously it also contained around 40 species ...

'' L. ** ''

Xerocladia ''Xerocladia viridiramis'' is a species of plant in the legume family (Fabaceae). It is the sole species in the monotypic genus ''Xerocladia''. Name This plant was first discovered in 1822 and named ''Acacia viridiramis'' by Burchell. In 1862, H ...

'' Harv. * ''Mimozyganthus'' group ** ''

Mimozyganthus ''Mimozyganthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes a single species, ''Mimozyganthus carinatus'', a tree native to Bolivia, Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina, where it is known by the common names ''iscayante' ...

'' Burkart ** ''

Piptadeniopsis ''Piptadeniopsis lomentifera'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is a tree native to southwestern Bolivia and Paraguay. It is the sole species in genus ''Piptadeniopsis''.Prosopidastrum ''Prosopidastrum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes seven species of shrubs native to the subtropical Americas, with six species native to Bolivia and Argentina, and one ('' Prosopidastrum mexicanum'') native to ...

'' Burkart * ''Leucaena'' group ** ''

Desmanthus ''Desmanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words δεσμός (''desmos''), meaning "bundle", and ἄνθος (''anthos'') ...

'' Willd. ** ''

Kanaloa In the traditions of ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is a god symbolized by the squid or by the octopus, and is typically associated with Kāne. It is also an alternative name for the island of Kahoolawe. In legends and chants, Kāne and Kanaloa are po ...

'' Lorence & K.R.Wood ** ''

Leucaena ''Leucaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It contains about 24 species of trees and shrubs, which are commonly known as leadtrees. They are native to the Americas ...

'' Benth. ** ''

Schleinitzia ''Schleinitzia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes four species of trees and shrubs native to the Philippines, New Guinea, and the South Pacific. Typical habitats include tropical secondary rain forest, woodland, ...

'' Warb. ex Nevling & Niezgoda * ''Dichrostachys'' group ** '' Alantsilodendron'' Villiers ** '' Calliandropsis'' H.M.Hern. & P.Guinet ** '' Dichrostachys'' (DC.) Wight & Arn. ** '' Gagnebina'' Neck. ex DC. * Unassigned ** '' Aubrevillea'' Pellegr. ** '' Chidlowia'' Hoyle ** '' Cylicodiscus'' Harms ** '' Neptunia'' Lour ** ''

Pentaclethra ''Pentaclethra'' is a small genus of trees from the tropics. They are flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. They belong to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The name ''Pentaclethra'' is derived from Ancient Greek, ''penta ...

'' Benth. ** '' Plathymenia'' Benth.

''Acacia Clade (Core Mimosoideae)''

* ''Parkia'' group ** ''

Anadenanthera ''Anadenanthera'' is a genus of South American trees in the Legume family, Fabaceae. The genus contains two species, ''Anadenanthera colubrina, A. colubrina'' and ''Anadenanthera peregrina, A. peregrina''. These trees are known to the western wor ...

'' Speg. ** ''

Parkia ''Parkia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Legu ...

'' R.Br. * ''Piptadenia'' group ** '' Adenopodia'' C.Presl ** '' Microlobius'' C.Presl ** ''

Mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and ...

'' L. ** '' Parapiptadenia'' Brenan ** '' Piptadenia'' Benth. ** ''

Pityrocarpa ''Pityrocarpa'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes seven species of shrubs and small trees native to the tropical Americas, including western and southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, Venezuela and Guyana ...

'' Britton & Rose ** '' Pseudopiptadenia'' Rauschert ** ''

Stryphnodendron ''Stryphnodendron'' is a genus of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 28 species of trees and suffrutices native to the tropical Americas, ranging from Nicaragua to Bolivia, Paraguay, and southern Brazil. Typical habitats ...

'' Mart. * ''Abarema'' group ** ''

Abarema ''Abarema'' is a neotropical genus in the family (biology), family Fabaceae. It is native to Brazil and Venezuela. Most of the species can be found in the Amazon Basin and the Guyana Highlands. They have a deep-green fernlike Leaf, foliage, with ...

'' Pittier ** '' Balizia'' Barneby & J.W.Grimes ** ''

Hydrochorea ''Hydrochorea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 11 species native to Central and South America and west and west-central Africa. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. * ''Hydrochor ...

'' Barneby & J.W.Grimes * Ingeae grade (

Paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

) ** ''

Acaciella ''Acaciella'' is a Neotropical genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, and its subfamily Mimosoideae. Its centre of diversity is along the Mexican Pacific coast. They are unarmed, have no extrafloral nectaries and the polyads ...

'' Britton & Rose ** '' Afrocalliandra'' E.R. Souza & L.P. Queiroz ** ''

Albizia ''Albizia'' is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and A ...

'' Durazz. ** ''

Archidendron ''Archidendron'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Mimosa subfamily (Mimosoideae) of the pea family, Fabaceae. It includes 98 species which range from India through Indochina, southern China, Taiwan, Malesia, and Papuasia to Queensland and Ne ...

'' F.Muell. ** ''

Archidendropsis ''Archidendropsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 11 species, which are native to Australia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia.Blanchetiodendron'' Barneby & J.W.Grimes ** ''

Calliandra ''Calliandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains about 140 species that are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Description ...

'' Benth. ** '' Cathormion'' (Benth.) Hassk. ** '' Cedrelinga'' Ducke ** '' Chloroleucon'' (Benth.) Britton & Rose ** ''

Cojoba ''Cojoba'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 15 species, which range through the tropical Americas from northern Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean to Bolivia and northern Brazil. from Taxonomy T ...

'' Britton & Rose ** ''

Enterolobium ''Enterolobium'' is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical and warm-temperate regions of the Americas. They are medium-sized to large trees.Germplasm Resources Information Network''Enterolobium''Inter ...

'' Mart. ** '' Faidherbia'' A.Chev. ** '' Falcataria'' (I.C.Nielsen) Barneby & J.W.Grimes ** ''

Hesperalbizia ''Hesperalbizia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or ...

'' Barneby & J.W.Grimes ** ''

Inga ''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s l ...

'' Mill. ** '' Leucochloron'' Barneby & J.W.Grimes ** ''

Lysiloma ''Lysiloma'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae. The genus is native to the Americas, and species range from Arizona and New Mexico through Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica, and in Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, ...

'' Benth. ** ''

Macrosamanea ''Macrosamanea'' is a genus of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 11 species of trees and shrubs native to northern South America. The genus is most diverse and numerous in the Amazon Basin, extending into the Orinoco bas ...

'' Britton & Rose ** '' Pararchidendron'' I.C.Nielsen ** '' Pseudosamanea'' Harms ** ''

Samanea ''Samanea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes four species of trees native to the tropical Americas, ranging from Belize to Paraguay, and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. Habitats include ...

'' (Benth.) Merr. ** ''

Sanjappa ''Sanjappa'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,Serianthes ''Serianthes'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 17 species of trees and shrubs which range from Thailand and Malesia to Papuasia and the South Pacific. New Caledonia has the greatest diversity of species, wit ...

'' Benth. ** '' Thailentadopsis'' Kosterm. ** '' Viguieranthus'' Villiers ** '' Wallaceodendron'' Koord. ** ''

Zapoteca Zapotec () or zapoteca may refer to: Cultures and languages * Zapotec civilization, a historical indigenous pre-Columbian civilization and archaeological culture of central Mexico * Zapotec languages, a group of closely related indigenous Mesoame ...

'' H.M.Hern. ** ''

Zygia ''Zygia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 60 species of tres and shrubs native to the tropical Americas, from Southern Mexico and Cuba to northern Argentina. Typical habitats are tropical forest and coastal zone ...

'' P.Browne * ''Pithecellobium'' group ** '' Ebenopsis'' Britton & Rose ** ''

Havardia ''Havardia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It includes five species of trees native to the Americas, ranging from Texas and northern Mexico through Cent ...

'' Small ** ''

Painteria ''Painteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes two species of shrubs or small trees native to Mexico. Typical habitats include desert grassland and shrubland (matorral) on the Mexican Plateau, and in the lowlands ...

'' Britton & Rose ** ''

Pithecellobium ''Pithecellobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes approximately 23 species from the tropical Americas, ranging from Mexico to Peru and northern Brazil, including the Caribbean Islands and Florida. The generic ...

'' Mart. ** ''

Sphinga ''Sphinga prehensilis'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is a perennial shrub endemic to Cuba. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the ra ...

'' Barneby & J.W.Grimes * Unassigned ** ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'' Mill. ** ''

Mariosousa ''Mariosousa'' is a genus of 13 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Members of this genus were formerly considered to belong to the genus ''Acacia ''Acaci ...

'' Seigler & Ebinger ** '' Paraserianthes'' I.C.Nielsen ** ''

Parasenegalia ''Parasenegalia'' is a small genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. It is found in tropical areas of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Species list The genus ''Parasene ...

'' Seigler & Ebinger ** ''

Pseudosenegalia ''Pseudosenegalia'' is a small genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes two species of trees or shrubs endemic to Bolivia.Senegalia ''Senegalia'' (from Senegal and '' Acacia senegal'' (L.) Willd.) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the Mimosoid clade. Until 2005, its species were considered members of ''Acacia.'' The genus was considered po ...

'' Raf. ** ''

Vachellia ''Vachellia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus '' Acacia'' until 2009. ''Vachellia'' ...

'' Wight & Arn.

Fossils

The following fossil wood morphogenera have been described: *

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

''Acacioxylon'' Schenk 1883 * †''Adenantheroxylon'' Prakash & Tripathi 1968 * †''Albizinium'' Prakash 1975 * †''Albizzioxylon'' Nikitin 1935 * †''Anadenantheroxylon'' Brea et al. 2001 * †''Cathormion'' Gros 1990 * †''Dichrostachyoxylon'' Müller-Stoll & Mädel 1967 * †''Eucacioxylon'' Müller-Stoll & Mädel 1967 * †''Ingoxylon'' Müller-Stoll & Mädel 1967 * †''Menendoxylon'' Lutz 1979 * †''Metacacioxylon'' Gros 1981 * †''Microlobiusxylon'' Franco & Brea 2010 * †''Mimosoxylon'' Müller-Stoll & Mädel 1967 * †''Mimosaceoxylon'' Lakhanpal & Prakash1970 * †''Paraalbizioxylon'' Gros 1992 * †''Paracacioxylon'' Müller-Stoll & Mädel 1967 * †''Piptadenioxylon'' Suguio & Mussa 1978 * †''Prosopisinoxylon'' Martínez * †''Tetrapleuroxylon'' Müller-Stoll & Mädel 1967

Systematics

Modern

suggests the following relationships:

Acacieae

Acacieae ( Dumort., 1829) is a wide-ranging,

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

tribe of legumes in the Mimosoideae that is native to the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, subtropics, and warm-temperate regions. It includes five or six genera and some 1,450 species. * Subdivision – 5 or 6 genera ** ''

'' Mill. – type genus ** ''

'' Wight & Arn. ** ''

Senegalia ''Senegalia'' (from Senegal and '' Acacia senegal'' (L.) Willd.) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the Mimosoid clade. Until 2005, its species were considered members of ''Acacia.'' The genus was considered po ...

'' Rafinesque ** ''

'' Britton & Rose ** ''

'' Seigler & Ebinger ** ''

Racosperma ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Australa ...

'' Martius

Relationships

In Bentham's 1842

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

of the subfamily Mimosoideae, Acacieae was one of its three constituent tribes, the others being

Ingeae The Mimosoideae are a traditional subfamily of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (Fabaceae) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petal ...

Benth. & Hook.f. and Mimoseae Bornn. His Acacieae tribe of 1842 included many genera that were subsequently assigned to tribe Ingeae Benth. In 1875, however, Bentham narrowed his definition of Acacieae so as to include only ''

'' Mill. The only morphological character of Acacieae used to distinguish it from the Ingeae is the presence of free stamens (as in tribe Mimoseae). In the Ingeae they are fused in the form of a tube, whereas in the Acacieae only a few species have the stamens fused at the base. Several characters of the foliage, seeds, seed pods, pollen, and stipules are shared by the two tribes. The flower morphology of ''Acacia s.l.'' has characteristics in common with the genera ''

'', '' Piptadenia'', and ''

'' (tribe Mimoseae) and ''

'' and ''

'' (tribe Ingeae). The tribal position of monotypic genus '' Faidherbia'' A. Chevalier is equivocal. It was included in the Acacieae by Vassal (1981) and Maslin et al. (2003), but Lewis & Rico Arce placed it in tribe Ingeae following Polhill (1994) and Luckow et al. (2003). In the latter case, tribe Acacieae may conform to genus '' Acacia s.l.'', pending the latter's relationship to other mimosoid genera. ''Faidherbia'' is troublesome as its stamens are shortly united at their base and its pollen is similar to some taxa in the Ingeae.

Description

They are trees, shrubs or lianas, which may be armed or unarmed. Where they have spines, these are modified stipules. In some, prickles arise from the stem's cortex and epidermis. The leaves are bipinnate or are modified to vertically oriented phyllodes. A few have cladodes rather than leaves.

Extrafloral nectaries Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, ...

may be present on the petiole and rachis, and the pinnule tips may carry protein-lipid

Beltian bodies A Beltian body is a detachable tip found on the pinnules of some species of ''Acacia'' and closely related genera. Beltian bodies, named after Thomas Belt, are rich in lipids, sugars and proteins and often red in colour. They are believed to have ...

. The leaflets are usually opposite, and are carried on shortly stalks or are sessile. The heartwood is typically red and hard, and the sap of various species hardens into gum. The inflorescences are dense pedunculate heads or spikes borne in axillary clusters, or are aggregated in terminal panicles. The tetra- or pentamerous flowers are uniformly bisexual, or male and bisexual. Sepals are connate (i.e. fused) and valvate (i.e. not overlapping). The reduced petals are valvate, or rarely absent. The flowers have numerous exserted (i.e. protruding) stamens (>2× as many as the corolla lobes), and their filaments are sometimes connate at their base (forming a short stemonozone). Male flowers of some

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

species have a reduced staminal tube (cf. '' A. albicorticata'', '' A. hindsii'', '' A. farnesiana'', and '' S. picachensis''). Flowers are usually yellow or cream-coloured, but may be white, red, or purple. The ovary is sessile or stipitate (i.e. supported by a stipe), with many ovules or ovules arranged in two rows. The ovary is attached by a filiform style to a small, capitate stigma. The legume's endocarp is attached to the exocarp, but is otherwise very variable, and may be dehiscent or indehiscent. Seeds are usually elliptic to oblong and flattened to varying degrees. Seeds have a hard black-brown testa (i.e. seed coat) with a pleurogram, visible as a closed or almost closed O-shaped line. Some phyllodinous species have a colourful

aril An aril (), also called arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode, or false aril, is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the ova ...

elaiosome Elaiosomes ( ''élaion'' "oil" + ''sóma'' "body") are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaiosomes that attract ...

on the seed.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Rosid subfamilies Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle