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Caesalpiniaceae
S. I. ALI
Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi
Trees, shrubs, climbers, very rarely herbs. Leaves mostly alternate, mostly pinnate or bipinnate, pinnae or leaflets 1-many pairs rarely simple or unifoliolate. Stipules paired, mostly caducous, stipels may or may not be present. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, rarely leaf opposed, raceme or panicle. Flowers zygomorphic, rarely actinomorphic, mostly bisexual. Sepals 5 or 4 by the union of 2, free or partly united, imbricate or rarely valvate. Petals 5 or fewer, rarely absent, imbri¬cate, adaxial inner most. Stamens 10 or fewer, rarely numerous, free to variously connate; extra staminal disc sometimes present. Pistil unicarpellary, ovary unilo¬cular, ovules 1 to many, style single, undivided. Fruit a legume or indehiscent drupaceous and samaroid. Seeds sometimes arillate, rarely with endosperm.
A family of about 152 genera and c. 2800 species, mostly tropical and sub-tropical in distribution.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the United States Department of Agriculture for financing this research under P.L. 480. Our grateful thanks are due to the authorities of the following herbaria for herbarium and library facilities: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; British Museum (Natural History). London; Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh; Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna; Gordon Col¬lege, Rawalpindi and Forest Research Institute, Peshawar. The help and advice of Mr. J.P.M. Brenan (Kew), Mr. R.D. Meikle (Kew), Mr. B.L. Burtt (Edinburgh), Dr. W.T. Stearn (BM), Dr. K.H. Rechinger (Vienna), Dr. Anwar Kazmi (Pesha¬war) Dr. Asghar Quraishi (Peshawar) and Mr. A. Ghafoor are thankfully acknowledged.
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| 1 |
Petals (or petal) present |
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(2) |
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Petals absent |
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(8) |
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| 2 (1) |
Leaves simple or unipinnate (paripinnate) |
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(3) |
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Leaves bipinnate |
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(10) |
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| 3 (2) |
Sepals imbricate in bud |
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(4) |
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Sepals valvate or open in bud |
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Cercis |
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| 4 (3) |
Leaves simple, variously deeply bilobed |
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Bauhinia |
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Leaves compound |
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(5) |
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| 5 (4) |
Anthers opening by terminal pores, the loculi attatched at or near the base |
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Cassia |
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Anthers opening lengthwise by slits, often attached near the middle and more or less versatile |
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(6) |
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| 6 (5) |
Perfect stamens 10, free, filaments pilose at the base |
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(7) |
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Perfect stamens 3, connate high up into a sheath, open above |
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Tamarindus |
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| 7 (6) |
Sepals free to the base or nearly so, not forming a distinct tube |
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Haematoxylum |
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Sepals more or less united into a distinct tube |
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Schotia |
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| 8 (1) |
Calyx segments 4 |
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Saraca |
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Calyx segments 5 |
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(9) |
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| 9 (8) |
Ovules numerous, fruit divided within between the seeds by pulpy areas, many seeded |
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Ceratonia |
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Ovules 2, fruit 2 valved and 1 seeded |
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Hardwickia |
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| 10 (2) |
Calyx lobes or teeth imbricate |
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(11) |
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Calyx lobes valvate |
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(16) |
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| 11 (10) |
Leaf rachis very short and ending into a Sharp spine-like point, pinnae flat and leaf like |
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Parkinsonia |
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Leaf rachis not ending into a spine-like sharp point |
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(12) |
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| 12 (11) |
Branchlets and leaf raches prickly |
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(13) |
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Branchlets and leaf raches not prickly |
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(14) |
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| 13 (12) |
Fruit not winged, often filled with pulp between seeds |
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Caesalpinia |
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Fruit winged lengthwise along the upper suture |
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Mezoneuron |
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| 14 (12) |
Ovary shortly stipitate |
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Haematoxylum |
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Ovary sessile |
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(15) |
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| 15 (14) |
Fruit indehiscent, with thin nerve along the margins as if 2-winged |
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Peltophorum |
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Fruit dehiscent or indehiscent, not even apparently winged |
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Caesalpinia |
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| 16 (10) |
Fertile stamens 10, trunk and branches not spiny |
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Delonix |
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Fertile stamens 10-6, trunk and branches armed with stout, simple or branched spines |
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Gleditsia |
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List of lower taxa
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