Falcataria (I.C. Nielsen) Barneby & J.W. Grimes, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 254. 1996.

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

Falcataria (I.C. Nielsen) Barneby & J.W. Grimes, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(1): 254. 1996.

Figs 226 , 227 , 228 , 230

Paraserianthes sect. Falcataria I.C. Nielsen, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia Sér. 4, 5(3): 327. 1983 (publ. 1984). Type: Paraserianthes falcataria (L.) Nielsen [≡ Adenanthera falcataria L.]

Type.

Falcataria falcata (L.) Greuter & R. Rankin [≡ Falcataria moluccana (Miq.) Barneby & Grimes (≡ Albizia moluccana Miq.)]

Description.

Unarmed medium-sized to large trees up to 40 m. Stipules caducous. Leaves bipinnate, extrafloral nectaries disk-shaped; pinnae 8-24 pairs; leaflets (4) 8-27 (33) pairs per pinna, opposite, subsessile. Inflorescences 2-3 times branched, efoliate panicles of few-flowered spikes, each panicle axillary to a fully expanded leaf, the terminal meristem of each annual branch-complement continuing beyond the fertile axes. Flowers bisexual, 5-merous, homomorphic and sessile; calyx gamosepalous, campanulate or hemispherical; corolla gamopetalous, sericeous; stamens numerous; pollen in 16-celled polyads with a thin exine and a thick nexine, without costae; intrastaminal disc around the base of the ovary. Fruits broad-linear, straight, plano-compressed, narrowly winged along the ventral suture, inertly dehiscent through both sutures. Seeds compressed ellipsoid, coat hard, testa brown, U-shaped pleurogram.

Chromosome number.

2 n = 26 [ Albizia falcata (L.) Baker (= Falcataria falcata )] ( Huang et al. 1989).

Included species and geographic distribution.

Three species [ F. falcata , F. pullenii (Verdc.) Gill.K. Br., D.J. Murphy & Ladiges, F. toona (F.M. Bailey) Gill.K. Br., D.J. Murphy & Ladiges], native to the Moluccas, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Queensland ( Barneby and Grimes 1996) (Fig. 230 ). Falcataria falcata is widely cultivated in Africa, Asia, South and Central America, and several Pacific Islands ( Chudnoff 1985).

Ecology.

Tropical rainforest and coastal dry rainforests, spanning elevations up to 2300 m (Lewis and Rico Arce 2005).

Etymology.

The name Falcataria is derived from the Latin word falcatus which means "sickle-shaped, hooked" ( Barneby and Grimes 1996), referring to the shape of leaflets ( Islam 2005).

Human uses.

The wood is commercially used for pulpwood, veneers, light construction, crafts and furniture, fuel and charcoal ( Ramano and Acda 2017). Falcataria is used in reforestation projects due to its rapid growth but also as a shade tree for cocoa and coffee and as an ornamental (Lewis and Rico Arce 2005). Falcataria falcata (batai, peacock’s plume, white albizia, jeungjing) is an invasive weed across many Pacific Islands ( Hughes et al. 2013).

Notes.

The molecular phylogenetic analyses of Brown et al. (2008, 2011) showed Paraserianthes sensu Nielsen (1983 a) to be paraphyletic, supporting the classification of Barneby and Grimes (1996) who had raised sect. Paraserianthes Falcataria to the generic level, and in consequence reduced Paraserianthes to only one species.

The name applied to the type species of the genus has a complicated history (see Jarvis 2007). The name commonly used over the past 57 years was recently changed to Falcataria falcata following the rule of priority.

Taxonomic references.

Barneby and Grimes (1996); Chudnoff (1985); 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 230. Distribution of Falcataria based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.