Senna angustisiliqua var. inaguensis (Britton) 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

    Senna angustisiliqua var. inaguensis (Britton) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Type

    Holotypus, NY!

  • Synonyms

    Peiranisia inaguensis Britton

  • Description

    Variety Description - Lfts of major lvs 4-7(-8) pairs, the terminal pair obovate obtuse mucronulate 12-21 x 6-12 mm, 1.6-2.4 times as long as wide; otherwise as in description and varietal key. [Key: "Beak of 4 median anthers terminal suberect, projecting beyond the theca; petioles 13-28 mm, mostly 2-3 times all long as the first interfoliolar segment of rachis; s.-e. Bahamas (Inagua, Caicos). Glands between 1, 2 or 3 pairs; pod 6-9 x 0.7-1.1 cm."]-Collections: 7.

    Distribution and Ecology - Coppice scrub and coral limestone pavement below 30 m, known only from Providenciales and Great Inagua islands, s.-e. Bahamas.-FI. VI-XII.

  • Discussion

    Britton separated Peiranisia inaguensis from P. crista by the broad pod (said to be 8-10 not 4-7 mm wide) and from P. jamaicensis by glabrate foliage. Modern collections show that the pod varies on Great Inagua from 6.5 to 9 (none available to Britton were actually 10) mm wide, and in the context of ser. Rostratae no reliance should be placed on pubescence characters, everywhere fallible. The orientation of the median anther-beaks, erect and obviously terminal in P. inaguensis but turned at rightangles to the body of the theca in S. angustisiliqua and its var. fulgens, is on our view the best, even though somewhat precarious differential character. In general var. inaguensis differs further from var. angustisiliqua in the longer petioles and peduncles and fewer (mostly 5-8, not 8-14) pairs of leaflets, but our three collections from Nord-Ouest province, Haiti (Leonard 11070, 11726, 13704, all NY, US), referred to var. angustisiliqua because of the androecium, have essentially the foliage of var. inaguensis. In foliage (except for vesture) and a relatively broad pod the vars. inaguensis and fulgens are closely similar, differing, as already noted, in the anther-beak. On South Caicos the range of var. inaguensis coincides with the southernmost outpost of closely related S. pallida var. bahamensis (P. Wilson 7639, NY, US), instantly separated by the 2-pored median anthers, lack of dense resinous punctuation of the leaflet blades, and a really narrow pod only 4-5.5 mm wide.

  • Distribution

    Inaugua Bahamas South America| Bahamas South America|