Denisophytum R. Vig., Notul. Syst. (Paris) 13(4): 349. 1948.

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

Denisophytum R. Vig., Notul. Syst. (Paris) 13(4): 349. 1948.

Fig. 54

Type.

Denisophytum madagascariense R. Vig.

Description.

Shrubs or small trees, armed with straight or curved, deflexed prickles, scattered along shoots and in pairs at the petiole base (except D. madagascariense which is unarmed). Stipules minute, or foliaceous and conspicuous, caducous or persistent. Leaves bipinnate, pinnae in 1-6 opposite pairs; leaflets 2-10 (11) opposite pairs per pinna. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic; a short hypanthium persistent at the pedicel apex as the fruit matures; sepals 5, caducous, lower sepal cucullate and covering the other 4 sepals in bud; petals 5, free, yellow, the median petal sometimes with red markings on the inner face of the blade; stamens 10, free, filaments pubescent and eglandular; ovary glabrous. Fruits coriaceous, laterally compressed (inflated in D. madagascariense ), glabrous, eglandular, stipitate legumes, elastically dehiscent, with twisting valves. Seeds laterally compressed.

Chromosome number.

2 n = 24 [ D. pauciflorum (Griseb.) Gagnon & G.P. Lewis] ( Darlington and Wylie 1956).

Included species and geographic distribution.

Nine taxa in eight species. Three species are distributed in Mexico, Florida, and the Caribbean, one species is endemic to Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina, one is endemic to northern Madagascar, and the other three occur in northern Kenya, Somalia, and Arabia (Fig. 54 ).

Ecology.

Low deciduous seasonally dry tropical woodlands or scrublands, also in open pine woodlands, coastal plains and foothills. Species in Madagascar and Africa grow in limestone soils.

Etymology.

It has been hypothesised that Denisophytum honours Marcel Denis, a botanist with expertise in the genus Euphorbia L. in Madagascar, and a friend and collaborator of René Viguier, the genus author ( Gagnon et al. 2016).

Human uses.

Unknown.

Notes.

An evaluation of species limits is needed for this genus. It has a highly disjunct trans-continental distribution typical of lineages occupying the succulent biome sensu Schrire et al. (2005b).

Taxonomic references.

Barreto Valdés (2013); Brenan (1967); Britton and Rose (1930); Burkart (1936); Capuron (1967); Du Puy and Rabevohitra (2002); Gagnon et al. (2016); Roti-Michelozzi (1957); Thulin (1983, 1993); Ulibarri (1996); Viguier (1949).

Figures

Figure 54. Distribution of Denisophytum based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.