Cassia cytisoides DC. ex Collad. var. cytisoides
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Authors
Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby
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Authority
Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1978. Monographic studies in Cassia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). III. Sections Absus and Grimaldia. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 30: 1-300.
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Family
Caesalpiniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
"Hab. in Brasilia." — Holotypus, G-DC! = F Neg. 7007! — C. cytisoides sensu Bentham. 1870, p. 139; 1871, p. 562.
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Synonyms
Cassia cytisoides DC. ex Collad., Cassia venosa Zuccagni ex Castigl., Cassia glabra Collad.
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Description
Species Description - Appearing glabrous, but the branchlets and some If-stalks minutely puberulent, the bracts and sepals ciliolate; lvs 3-7 cm, sessile; rachis 1.8-3.5 cm, Ifts of all Ivs 3 (acc. Bentham, 1870, 1.c. sometimes 4) pairs, all oblong-obovate to -elliptic, (1.2-) 1.5-3.6 x 1-2.2 cm, the lowest pair only slightly broader than the rest, never broader than long; sepals 8-11 mm; plane petals up to 21-24 mm. — Collections: 5.
Distribution and Ecology - Habitat unknown, but to be expected on sandstone outcrops in campo cerrado at or above 900 m, the exact range likewise unknown, but to be expected in centr. and s. Sa. do Espinhapo in Minas Gerais, found by St. Hilaire in "Serra Negra," perhaps that near 44° W, 22° S, and at Penha (near 43° W, 18° S), indicated (with some doubt) in Sa. Frio near Diamantina.
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Discussion
The typical form of C. cytisoides is poorly known, but seems to differ from all others in the more numerous leaflets, three pairs as described by Colladon and as found in the meager material examined but said by Bentham to be sometimes four pairs; and from all but var. micrantha, which has smaller flowers, in the relatively narrow outline of the leaflets themselves. The flower is identical to that of var. decora or var. brachystachya.
The holotypus of C. cytisoides is labelled simply "Bresil," and there is nothing in the record about its origin or collector. There is however in the Jussieu herbarium (P-Juss) a specimen which so closely resembles it in details of discoloration and in state of maturity that we suspect it to be an isotypus. This plant was sent to Paris from Lisbon by Vandelli, and it is reasonable to suppose that the ultimate source was Vandelli's former pupil J. Velloso de Miranda, author of Flora Fluminensis.
Search at Paris for an annotated typus of C. venosa Desv. was unsuccessful. Desvaux himself (in Ann. Sci. Nat. I, 9: 427. 1826) equated his C. venosa with C. cytisoides, a synonymy accepted by Bentham (1871, p. 562), and it is suspected that Desvaux based his species either on the actual plant in the Jussieu collection or possibly another duplicate of the same. For in 1814 St. Hilaire had not yet landed in Brazil and it is unlikely that other representatives of this inaccessible Brazilian cassia could have reached France by this date. The legitimate substitute C. glabra Collad. for the later homonym C. venosa Desv. is coeval with C. cytisoides DC. ex. Collad, but was adopted as the valid name neither by Desvaux nor by Bentham.
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Distribution
Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Brazil South America|