Chamaecrista burchellii (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Authors

    Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

  • Authority

    Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtrib Cassiinae in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35, part 2: 455-918.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Chamaecrista burchellii (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Type

    Lectoholotypus, Burchell 7582, K! = NY Neg. 1527; paratypus, Pohl 2126, K!

  • Synonyms

    Cassia burchellii Benth.

  • Description

    Species Description - Functionally herbaceous subshrubs with few, few-lvd and few-fld, at anthesis basally leafless, ribbed stems 1.5—4 dm ascending or stiffly erect from a knotty xylopodium, appearing glabrous but the stems distally, stipules and bracts, ventral ridges of lf-stalk, and ovary all minutely puberulent with incurved hairs, the leathery veiny foliage concolorous, usually quite glabrous, but some lfts sometimes sparsely long-ciliate. Stipules erect appressed, deltate, triangular, or subulate, 1.5-5 mm, coarsely 3-5-nerved, persistent. Lvs narrowly ascending (4-)6-8.5 cm, stoutly short-petiolate; lf-stalk (2-)2.5-5 cm, obtusely coarsely 2-marginate, the groove open, shallow, the petiole 5-12 mm, the rachis strongly dilated under the pulvinules; petiolar gland solitary near or above middle of petiole, elliptic sessile, 1.3-3.4 mm diam (sometimes a smaller gland high on rachis); lfts 2—4 pairs, rising vertically from rachis, turned half face to face, in outline narrowly oblong-obovate or -oblanceolate, very obtuse but sharply mucronulate, (1.7-)2-4.8 x 0.8-1.8(-2) cm, at base deeply cordate on proximal side, rounded to cuneate on the other, the coriaceous plane blades dull olivaceous on both faces, from base coarsely 5-nerved, the outer pair short, early anastomosing with a stout marginal nerve, the inner pair produced to or nearly to apex, these and the slightly excentric midrib subequally prominulous above and beneath, penniveined and thence intricately reticulate, the ultimate areoles much < 1 mm diam. Peduncles axillary 1-2 mm, solitary or sometimes geminate, 1-2-fld; bracts and bracteoles resembling stipules but only ±1—2 mm; pedicels narrowly stiffly ascending (2.5—)3—5 cm, buds plumply ovoid-acuminate, glabrous; sepals submembranous, petaloid-margined, ovate- to lance-elliptic, abruptly acute, 12—14 mm; petals yellow, 4 narrowly oblong- or obovate-cuneate, unequal, 15.5-21 mm, the fifth falcately dimidiate slightly longer; stamens 10, the anthers 6-9 mm, the sutures minutely puberulent; gynoecium divaricate; ovary puberulent; ovules 7-9; style linear-cylindric, 7-9 mm. Pod erect, narrowly oblong or oblong-oblanceolate, 4.5-5.5 x 0.7-0.8 cm, the purplish-brown valves sublustrous, minutely puberulent; seeds not seen.—Collections: 4.—Fig. 44.

    Distribution and Ecology - Gravelly hillsides in cerrado, near 1000 m, very local on the upper forks of Rio Tocantins between 14° and 15°S in centr. Goiás.—Fl. XII-I.

  • Distribution

    Goiás Brazil South America|