Umtiza Sim, Forest Fl. Cape Good Hope: 205. T. 52. 1907.

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

Umtiza Sim, Forest Fl. Cape Good Hope: 205. T. 52. 1907.

Figs 13 , 14 , 15

Type.

Umtiza listeriana Sim

Description.

Small evergreen trees to 12 m or shrubs, branches armed with stout spines that are frequently branched; branches with lateral brachyblasts (Fig. 13A-C ). Stipules absent. Leaves paripinnate, alternate, (3) 5-9 (12) pairs of subopposite leaflets, sometimes with a lateral terminal leaflet. Inflorescences panicles, terminal on spur shoots; bracts minute, persistent. Flowers white, small, regular, bisexual, 5-merous or more rarely 4-merous (Fig. 14A, B ); hypanthium short; calyx lobes subequal, sometimes one lobe longer; petals equal, free, inserted on hypanthium rim with the stamens; androecium diplostemonous, stamens opposite petals shorter than those alternate with petals; pollen exine perforate; ovary sessile bearing two ovules. Fruit dehiscent along both sutures, subligneous, valves twisting, not pulpy, usually one-seeded (Fig. 13G ). Seed ovate with truncate base, compressed.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Included species and geographic distribution.

Monospecific ( U. listeriana ), from Eastern Cape region, South Africa, primarily along the Buffalo River between East London and King William’s Town (Fig. 15 ).

Ecology.

Subtropical dry forest, bushland and thicket.

Etymology.

Derived from ‘umthiza’, the African vernacular name for the single species, U. listeriana .

Human uses.

Used locally for medicine and has alleged magical properties, witchdoctors have used sticks of the tree as healing wands; the wood was once used to house propeller shafts in small boats because its oiliness provided constant lubrication ( Ross 1977).

Notes.

The genus is monospecific with Umtiza listeriana endemic to the Eastern Cape region of South Africa where the species is endangered and protected. The Umtiza Nature Reserve is named for this species. Cowan and Polhill (1981) treated Umtiza as a member of the Detarieae , but with uncertainty, partially due to the absence of stipules. Typically, intrapetiolar stipules characterise Detarieae and Amherstieae , but their absence in Umtiza made tribal affinity uncertain. Umtiza is most similar to species of Gleditsia in the presence of branched and unbranched thorns derived from lateral shoots. Umtiza differs from the other two genera of the tribe in the presence of only hermaphrodite flowers and fully dehiscent fruits that lack pulp.

Taxonomic references.

Allen and Allen (1981); Ross (1977), with illustration.

Figures

Figure 13. Gleditsieae, diversity of vegetative morphology and fruits A-C Umtiza listeriana Sim A small tree B branch with pinnately compound leaves and inflorescence C branch with thorn at node D Gymnocladus assamicus Kanjilal ex P. C. Kanjilal branch with bipinnate leaves and inflorescence E Gleditsia japonica Miq., bipinnate leaf with several pinnae replaced by single leaflets, cultivated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew F Gleditsia amorphoides (Griseb.) Taub., branched thorns G Umtiza listeriana dehisced fruits H Gymnocladus dioicus L., fruit I Gleditsia triacanthos L., fruits. Photo credits A-C, G SAplants, Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 4.0) D B Choudhury E, F GP Lewis H Chicago Botanic Garden (photographer unknown) I A Schnabel.

Figure 14. Gleditsieae, floral diversity A, B Umtiza listeriana Sim A branch with inflorescence of hermaphrodite flowers B close-up of flowers C, D Gymnocladus assamicus Kanjilal ex P. C. Kanjilal C inflorescence of hermaphrodite flowers D dissected hermaphrodite flower E Gymnocladus chinensis Baill., inflorescence, cultivated at the US National Arboretum F Gymnocladus dioicus L., cultivated at Chicago Botanic Garden, upright inflorescence of hermaphrodite flowers G branch with leaves and inflorescence H Gleditsia triacanthos L., inflorescence of staminate flowers I Gleditsia caspica Desf., inflorescence, cultivated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Photo credits A, B SAplants, Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 4.0) C, D Murata E PS Herendeen F, G R Carlson H Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (photographer unknown) I M Svanderlik.

Figure 15. Distribution of Umtiza based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.