Adenanthera L., Sp. Pl.: 384. 1753.

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

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.240.101716
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0962E785-B00D-143A-1ED2-B6F06104DCAC
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scientific name	Adenanthera L., Sp. Pl.: 384. 1753.
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Treatment

Adenanthera L., Sp. Pl.: 384. 1753. View in CoL

Figs 104 View Figure 104 , 105 View Figure 105 , 106 View Figure 106 , 110 View Figure 110

Gonsii Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 318. 1763. Type not designated.

Type.

Adenanthera pavonina L.

Description.

Unarmed trees or shrubs ( A. marina Nielsen), (3) 20-45 m tall, to 1 m diameter (Fig. 104H View Figure 104 ), buttresses present in some species, bark brown-grey, peeling or flaking (Fig. 104G View Figure 104 ); brachyblasts absent. Stipules inconspicuous and caducous. Leaves bipinnate, foliar nectaries absent; pinnae opposite or subopposite, (1) 2-9 pairs per leaf, 3-25 (40) cm long; leaflets alternate, 4-25 per pinna, petiolulate. Inflorescences of pendulous or erect, pedunculate, spiciform racemes (Fig. 105A View Figure 105 ), (3.5) 5-30 cm long, solitary or paired in the leaf axils, borne near the ends of the branches, leaves sometimes suppressed and the inflorescence a narrow panicle of racemes, pedicels jointed and leaving a peg-like structure when the flowers abscise. Flowers fragrant, many per raceme, all hermaphrodite and seemingly bisexual; sepals connate, calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, valvate in bud; petals 5, free or basally connate, sometimes loosely connate to the stamens but soon separating, cream, pale yellow or pink, reflexed at anthesis, valvate in bud; stamens 10, free, anthers bearing an apical stipitate gland; nectary disk absent; pollen in calymmate polyads with (4) 16 (32) grains; ovary linear, sessile or stipitate, glabrous or pubescent, stigma porate. Fruits linear-oblong, 8-25 × 0.8-2 cm, straight, curved or spirally twisted prior to dehiscence, usually with 6-10 seeds per pod, up to 25 in A. pavonina , valves coriaceous to chartaceous, dehiscent through both sutures, spiraling after dehiscence to expose the persistent seeds; exocarp dark brown to black; endocarp pale yellow, smooth, raised over the seeds (Fig. 106A View Figure 106 ). Seeds red or bicoloured red (in hilar end) and black, obliquely inserted, ellipsoid, obovoid, orbicular or ovoid-ellipsoid, biconvex, compressed, testa hard, funicle thickened, pleurogram present.

Chromosome number.

2 n = 26, 28 ( Goldblatt 1981b).

Included species and geographic distribution.

Twelve species in tropical Asia, Australasia, Melanesia, Solomon Islands, and Madagascar (Fig. 110 View Figure 110 ). Adenanthera pavonina is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental; it is either native to India or was introduced there in prehistoric times.

Ecology.

Primary and secondary rainforests 100-700 m elevation, as a canopy tree in dipterocarp forests (one species an understory tree), peat swamps and swampy forests, forest margins, savannahs, alluvial forests, and two species coastal.

Etymology.

Greek Aden - (= gland) and anthera, referring to the gland present at the apex of the anther.

Human uses.

Planted in villages as an ornamental, used as shade trees for coffee and as a nitrogen-fixer. The seeds are toxic fresh but can be cooked and eaten, as can the leaves. The seeds are also used for making jewelry and in India to make a red dye. Leaves, bark, and seeds have been used in traditional medicine, and recent studies of seed extracts have shown A. pavonina to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects ( Olajide et al. 2004; Dholvitayakhun et al. 2012). The leaves are rich in saponins and used to make soap. Wood is sometimes used for indoor construction such as furniture.

Notes.

Adenanthera pavonina is widely naturalised in Africa and parts of Asia, and in the New World in the Caribbean, Florida, and northern South America. The red or bicoloured seeds are persistent after the pods dehisce and are bird-dispersed.

Taxonomic references.

Nielsen (1992); Nielsen and Guinet (1992), illustrations.