Advances in Legume Systematics 14. Classification of Caesalpinioideae. Part 2: Higher-level classification
Author
Bruneau, Anne
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5547-0796
Institut de recherche en biologie vegetale and Departement de Sciences biologiques, Universite de Montreal, 4101 Sherbrooke E., Montreal (QC) H 1 X 2 B 2, Canada
anne.bruneau@umontreal.ca
Author
de Queiroz, Luciano Paganucci
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7436-0939
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Ringelberg, Jens J.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0567-5210
Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland & School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH 8 9 YL, UK
Author
Borges, Leonardo M.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9269-7316
Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Departamento de Botanica, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, 13565 - 905, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil
Author
Bortoluzzi, Roseli Lopes da Costa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7445-7244
Programa de Pos-graduacao em Producao Vegetal, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciencias Agroveterinarias, Avenida Luiz de Camoes 2090, 88520 - 000, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Author
Brown, Gillian K.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7940-5435
Queensland Herbarium and Biodiversity Science, Department of Environment and Science, Toowong, Queensland, 4066, Australia
Author
Cardoso, Domingos B. O. S.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7072-2656
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, Pacheco Leao 915, 22460 - 030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil & Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Biodiversidade e Evolucao (PPGBioEvo), Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Bahia (UFBA), Rua Barao de Jeremoabo, s. n., Ondina, 40170 - 115, Salvador, BA, Brazil
Author
Clark, Ruth P.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9974-2933
Accelerated Taxonomy Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW 9 3 AE, UK
Author
Conceicao, Adilva de Souza
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8800-422X
Programa de Pos-graduacao em Diversidade Vegetal, Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Herbario HUNEB, Campus VIII, Rua do Gangorra 503, 48608 - 240, Paulo Afonso, Bahia, Brazil
Author
Cota, Matheus Martins Teixeira
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0654-7501
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Demeulenaere, Else
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1815-3051
Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant, University of Guam, UOG Station, Mangilao, 96923, Guam
Author
de Stefano, Rodrigo Duno
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1707-4121
Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan, A. C. (CICY), Calle 43 No. 130 x 32 y 34, Chuburna de Hidalgo; CP 97205, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Author
Ebinger, John E.
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920, USA
Author
Ferm, Julia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8762-3942
Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, 10691, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Author
Fonseca-Cortes, Andres
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7207-9940
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Gagnon, Edeline
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3212-9688
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph (ON) N 1 G 2 W 1, Canada & Chair of Phytopathology, Technical University Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany & Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH 3 5 LR, UK
Author
Grether, Rosaura
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2673-665X
Departamento de Biologia, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Apdo. Postal 55 - 535, 09340 Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
Author
Guerra, Ethiene
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9495-1717
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Botanica, Av. Bento Goncalves 9500, Bloco IV - Predio 43433, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501 - 970, Brazil
Author
Haston, Elspeth
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9144-2848
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH 3 5 LR, UK
Author
Herendeen, Patrick S.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2657-8671
Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA
Author
Hernandez, Hector M.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1741-5515
Departamento de Botanica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Cd. Universitaria, 04510 Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
Author
Hopkins, Helen C. F.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4984-8224
Accelerated Taxonomy Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW 9 3 AE, UK
Author
Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4153-5875
Herbario Alwyn Gentry (HAG), Universidad Nacional Amazonica de Madre de Dios (UNAMAD), AV. Jorge Chavez N ° 1160, Madre de Dios, Peru
Author
Hughes, Colin E.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9701-0699
Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
Author
Ickert-Bond, Stefanie M.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8198-8898
Department of Biology & Wildlife & Herbarium (ALA) at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P. O. Box 756960, Fairbanks AK 99775 - 6960, USA
Author
Iganci, Joao
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5740-3666
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Botanica, Av. Bento Goncalves 9500, Bloco IV - Predio 43433, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501 - 970, Brazil & Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Fisiologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Instituto de Biologia, Campus Universitario Capao do Leao, Passeio Andre Dreyfus, Departamento de Botanica, Predio 21, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, 96010 - 900, Brazil
Author
Koenen, Erik J. M.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4825-4339
Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Faculte des Sciences, Campus du Solbosch - CP 160 / 12, Avenue F. D. Roosevelt, 50, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Author
Lewis, Gwilym P.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2599-4577
Accelerated Taxonomy Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW 9 3 AE, UK
Author
de Lima, Haroldo Cavalcante
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2154-670X
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, Pacheco Leao 915, 22460 - 030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil & Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlantica / INMA-MCTI, Av. Jose Ruschi, 4, Centro, 29650 - 000, Santa Teresa, Espirito Santo, Brazil
Author
de Lima, Alexandre Gibau
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9168-2507
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, Pacheco Leao 915, 22460 - 030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil & Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Author
Luckow, Melissa
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2543-0516
School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Biology Section, Cornell University, 215 Garden Avenue, Roberts Hall 260, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Author
Marazzi, Brigitte
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3252-5816
Natural History Museum of Canton Ticino, Viale C. Cattaneo 4, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
Author
Maslin, Bruce R.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3039-0973
Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Western Australia, 6983, Australia & Singapore Herbarium, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore, Singapore
Author
Morales, Matias
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5540-9725
Instituto de Recursos Biologicos, CIRN-CNIA, INTA. N. Repetto & Los Reseros s. n., Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina & Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290 (C 1425 FQB), Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Author
Morim, Marli Pires
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0872-8429
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, Pacheco Leao 915, 22460 - 030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Author
Murphy, Daniel J.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8358-363X
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, 3004, Australia
Author
O'Donnell, Shawn A.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0731-7425
Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE 1 8 ST, UK
Author
Oliveira, Filipe Gomes
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0244-3262
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Oliveira, Ana Carla da Silva
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7042-5360
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Rando, Juliana Gastaldello
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3714-8231
Programa de Pos-graduacao em Ciencias Ambientais, Universidade Federal do Oeste da Bahia, Rua Professor Jose Seabra Lemos 316, 47800 - 021, Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil
Author
Ribeiro, Petala Gomes
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0070-9971
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Ribeiro, Carolina Lima
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9508-2894
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Santos, Felipe da Silva
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1068-0578
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Av. Transnordestina s / n, Campus, Novo Horizonte. 44036 - 900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil
Author
Seigler, David S.
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5177-5893
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Author
da Silva, Guilherme Sousa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4250-0017
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, 13083 - 876, Sao Paulo / SP, Brazil
Author
Simon, Marcelo F.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5732-1716
Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (Embrapa) Recursos Geneticos e Biotecnologia, Parque Estacao Biologica, Caixa Postal 02372, 70770 - 917, Brasilia / DF, Brazil
Author
Soares, Marcos Vinicius Batista
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2660-1771
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Botanica, Av. Bento Goncalves 9500, Bloco IV - Predio 43433, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501 - 970, Brazil
Author
Terra, Vanessa
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5669-1304
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97105 - 900, Santa Maria / RS, Brazil
text
PhytoKeys
2024
2024-04-03
240
1
552
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.240.101716
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.240.101716
1314-2003-240-1
B699D9DE2B435B1093DE3C38C703D430
Parkia R. Br. in Denham & Clapperton, Narr. Travels Africa, App.: 234. 1826.
Figs 164
, 166
, 167
Paryphosphaera
H. Karst., Fl. Columb. 2: 7, tab. 104. 1862. Type:
Paryphosphera arborea
H. Karst. [=
Parkia nitida
Miq.]
Type
.
Parkia africana
R. Br., nom. superfl. [≡
Parkia biglobosa
(Jacq.) R. Br. ex G. Don (≡
Mimosa biglobosa
Jacq.)]
Description.
Unarmed trees or rarely shrubs, 3-40 m, evergreen or rarely deciduous; trunk sometimes buttressed, bark variable.
Stipules
small, caducous.
Leaves
alternate, (sub)opposite or clustered at the ends of twigs; pinnae 1-55 pairs, opposite, subopposite or rarely alternate; leaflets 3-110 pairs per pinna, opposite or rarely alternate (
P. biglobosa
), linear to oblong or slightly sigmoid or rarely elliptic and 3-45
x
1-13 mm, or rarely ovate (
P. singularis
Miq.) and then to 120
x
75 mm; main-vein central, straight or slightly sigmoid; extrafloral nectaries often present on petiole near the base, elliptic, single or double (or heart-shaped), and sometimes on the rachis between the pinnae, especially in seedlings, small, round.
Compound inflorescences
of pedunculate capitula arranged in axillary or terminal, short to very long racemes or panicles; principal axis 0.15-5 m long, erect, horizontal, pendent or projecting at all angles, within or beneath the crown to far-extending beyond it; peduncles alternate or (sub)opposite, 1-115 cm long, pendent, erect or projecting at all angles, tough, sometimes thick and robust; 4 caducous bracts enclosing the capitulum in young bud stage.
Capitula
of 3 types: in sect.
Parkia Sphaeroparkia
: globose, 1-5 cm diameter, with 120-650 flowers, all fertile, lacking specialised nectar-secreting flowers, red or yellow at anthesis; in sect.
Parkia Platyparkia
: oblate, 2.7-3.5
x
4-5 cm, with 1060-1325 flowers, these of 2 sorts, those in the middle and at the base fertile, those at the apex modified and nectar-secreting, capitula red; in sect.
Parkia Parkia
: clavate, subglobose or biglobose, 4-21.5
x
3-8 cm, with 1090-3240 flowers, these of 3 main sorts: fertile ones forming an apical ball, below this a constricted cylinder or depressed ring of nectar-secreting flowers, at the base a zone of staminodial flowers in which the filaments are short to far-projecting and then forming a wide fringe, capitula yellow (sometimes the fringe white), reddish (bright to dull red, pink, orange or purplish), or occasionally bicoloured (red at the base, apical ball yellow).
Flowers
tubular, each subtended by an obdeltate-spathulate bract, slightly longer than the calyx.
Fertile flowers
hermaphroditic, functionally staminate, or a mixture; calyx almost bilabiate with 2 large lobes and 3 smaller ones, lobes imbricate in bud (or sub-equal and sub-imbricate in
P. ulei
(Harms) Kuhlm.); corolla lobes with lower parts variously connate and often adnate to the filament-tube; stamens 10, shortly exserted, filaments usually connate proximally and free distally, anthers basifixed (most species) or dorsifixed (sect.
Parkia Sphaeroparkia
), with or without an apical gland; pollen in polyads of 16, 28 or 32 grains, porate, exine granular or with columellae, variously ornamented (
Guinet 1981b
;
Feuer et al. 1985
;
Feuer 1986
;
Luckow and Hopkins 1995
), polyads sometimes with a central cavity (
Capucho and Teixeira 2014
); nectary disc absent; ovary stipitate, gynoecium reduced in functionally staminate fertile flowers.
Nectar-secreting flowers
sterile, the basal parts of the calyx, corolla and androecium adnate, much thickened and nectariferous, gynoecium absent (sect.
Parkia Parkia
) or modified with the style exserted (sect.
Parkia Platyparkia
).
Staminodial flowers
sterile, the filaments often bearing minute, non-functional anthers, gynoecium absent.
Fruits
borne on a large, woody, claviform to ellipsoid receptacle with a narrowly terete base (receptacle smaller in sect.
Parkia Sphaeroparkia
), stipitate, coriaceous to thick-woody, rarely tough-fleshy (
P. platycephala
Benth.), to 60 cm long, indehiscent or dehiscent along the adaxial suture, strap-shaped, narrowly oblong, oblong or rarely terete (e.g.,
P. biglobosa
), sub-moniliform (e.g.,
P. filicoidea
Welw. ex Oliv. p.p.) or broadly crescent-shaped (
P. multijuga
Benth.), sometimes twisted or rarely
+/-
curled, sometimes containing pulp (Paleotropics) or gum (Neotropics), or gum secreted along a laterally enlarged dehiscent adaxial suture (sect.
Parkia Platyparkia
p.p.).
Seeds
6-34 per pod in 1 or rarely 2 rows (sect.
Parkia Platyparkia
p.p.), flattened-ellipsoid or otherwise, 7-60 mm long; testa hard, thick, dark (rarely soft, green,
P. speciosa
Hassk.) with a pleurogram, or rarely thin and pleurogram lacking (Figs
164
,
166
).
Figure 166.
Morphological features of
Parkia sect. Parkia
(
A-L
) and sect.
Parkia Sphaeroparkia
(
M, N
)
A
P. bicolor
A. Chev. pendent capitulum approaching anthesis, Korup National Park, Cameroon
B
P. biglobosa
(Jacq.) R. Br. ex G. Don pendent capitulum cut in half, Ibadan, Nigeria
C
P. decussata
Ducke erect capitulum at anthesis, Neotropics (
Hopkins & Hopkins 237
)
D
P. timoriana
(DC.) Merr. pendent capitulum, South East Asia (
H.C.F. Hopkins 634
)
E
P. gigantocarpa
Ducke pendent capitulum and another cut in half, shortly post-anthesis, finger ring gives scale, Neotropics (
Hopkins & Hopkins 298
)
F
P. igneiflora
Ducke pendent capitulum near anthesis, Neotropics (
Hopkins & Hopkins 230
)
G
P. speciosa
Hassk., capitula at anthesis, Temburong, Brunei
H
P. discolor
Spruce ex Benth. indehiscent pods nearing maturity, Neotropics (
Hopkins & Hopkins 264
)
I, J
P. bicolor
I
ripe indehiscent pod with yellow valves containing orange pulp, Bero Mts, Guinea-Conakry
J
immature pods, Korup National Park, Cameroon
K
P. cachimboensis
H.C. Hopkins dehiscent pods lacking gum, the seeds attached by their funicles, Serra do Cachimbo, Brazil
L
P. igneiflora var. aurea
Ducke vel aff. erect compound inflorescence axes projecting above the tree crown bearing pendent yellow capitula on short pendent peduncles, Cachoeira Berro
d'Agua
, AM, Brazil
M, N
P. multijuga
Benth.
M
capitula at anthesis and in bud, Trombetas, Brazil
N
old pod from ground plus seeds, INPA, Manaus, Brazil. Photo credits
A
R
Gruenmeier
B
HCF Hopkins
C-F, H, K, N
MJG Hopkins and HCF Hopkins
G
I Nielsen
I
M Cheek
J
X van der Burgt
L
L Mello
M
unknown.
Chromosome number.
2
n
= 26 (22, 24) (
Santos et al. 2012
).
Included species and geographic distribution.
Currently ca. 35 species but more are likely to be recognised as a result of genetic studies (e.g.,
Ahossou et al. 2020
). Species are arranged in three sections: sect.
Parkia Parkia
(ca. 30 species), pantropical; sect.
Parkia Platyparkia
[three species:
P. paraensis
Ducke,
P. pendula
(Willd.) Benth. ex Walp.,
P. platycephala
], South and Central America; sect.
Parkia Sphaeroparkia
(three species:
P. multijuga
,
P. ulei
,
P. velutina
Benoist), South America.
The genus is pantropical (Fig.
167
) and includes ca. 20 species in the Neotropics, all endemic, from Bolivia and coastal Brazil north to Honduras, plus one African species (
Parkia biglobosa
) naturalised in Haiti (omitted from map), introduced to this and other islands in the West Indies in the 17-18th century; most species are Amazonian and the genus is only rarely found west of the Andes. In mainland Africa: at least three species species, all endemic. In Madagascar: one species, endemic. In the Indo-Pacific: 11 species, including two probably extinct, all endemic, from north-east India eastwards to south-east China, and through South East Asia and Malesia into the Pacific as far east as Ponape and Fiji.
Figure 167.
Distribution of
Parkia
based on quality-controlled digitised herbarium records. The presence of the West African
P. biglobosa
(Jacq.) R. Br. ex G. Don in Haiti, where it is naturalised, is not shown. See Suppl. material 1 for the source of occurrence data.
Ecology.
Tropical, predominantly occurring in moist habitats; most species are found in lowland rainforest (occasionally to 1500 m elevation), others grow in riparian forest, fresh-water flooded forest (
varzea
and
igapo
), woodland and wooded grassland (cerrado, savanna), and campinarana. Less common habitats in South America include coastal restinga (
P. bahiae
H.C. Hopkins), rocky savanna (cerrado rupestre;
P. cachimboensis
H.C. Hopkins) and sub-Andean dwarf forest (
P. nana
D.A. Neill), and in South East Asia and Malesia, peat swamp forest (
P. paya
H.C. Hopkins), tidal streams and
Nypa
swamp (
P. sherfeseei
Merr.), and dry evergreen and/or deciduous forest (
P. leiophylla
Kurz,
P. sumatrana
Miq.).
Etymology.
Named for the Scottish explorer Mungo Park (1771-1806), who investigated the course of the Niger River in West Africa and mentioned what became
Parkia biglobosa
as the nitta tree in the account of his first expedition to the region (
Park 1799
).
Human uses.
In West Africa, the seeds of
Parkia biglobosa
(African locust bean,
nere
,
nete
) are fermented into a widely used pungent condiment (dawadawa, soumbala, iru); the sweet mealy pulp around the seeds is also consumed (
Campbell-Platt 1980
;
Hall et al. 1997
;
Termote et al. 2022
). In South East Asia, the sulphurous smelling seeds of
P. speciosa
are eaten fresh or tinned as a vegetable (petai, pete, sator, stinkbean) (e.g.,
Wiriadinata and Bamroongrugsa 1993
;
Woon 1995
), and the seeds of
P. timoriana
(DC.) Merr. are consumed in a similar manner in north-east India (
Singh 2022
). The pods of
P. platycephala
are used to feed cattle and goats in north-east Brazil (
Hopkins 1986
;
Sousa et al. 2015
). Numerous traditional medicinal uses have been reported, especially in Africa and Asia, and chemical characteristics suggest much wider medicinal potential (e.g.,
Saleh et al. 2021
).
Notes.
Following
Bentham (1841a
,
1875
),
Parkia
was traditionally placed with
Pentaclethra
Benth. in the tribe
Parkieae
(Wight & Arn.) Endl. because both genera have a calyx with imbricate lobes.
Bentham (1875)
listed this tribe first (e.g., page 358), presumably to reflect a basal position in his suborder
Mimoseae
, linking it to the caesalpinioids, but he was equivocal about the affinity of the two genera and sometimes elsewhere in this work he treated them separately. Although it was clear that
Parkia
and
Pentaclethra
were unlikely to be closely related (
Bentham 1875
;
Guinet 1969
;
Elias 1981b
), they were not formally separated until
Luckow et al. (2003)
and
Luckow (2005)
placed them in different parts of the
Mimoseae
, although neither were assigned to a formal group within the tribe. The zygomorphic calyx with imbricate lobes that is so distinctive in
Parkia
is clearly a derived character, probably related to floral packing in the large bud capitula.
The generic limits of
Parkia
are unchanged from those of
Bentham (1875)
and
Ducke (1932b
,
1949
), who devised the sectional classification, slightly modified by
Hopkins (1986)
. Diagnostic characters for the genus include the form of the calyx, the large size of the usually densely-flowered capitula (except
P. ulei
), and marked floral differentiation in sections
Parkia
and
Platyparkia
. The capitulum in sect.
Parkia Platyparkia
, with nectar-secreting flowers at the apex (Fig.
164K
), is unique in
Mimoseae
. The fruits of two of its species (
P. paraensis
,
P. pendula
), in which copious sticky gum is secreted along a laterally enlarged dehiscent adaxial suture, may also be unique (Fig.
164L
). The capitula of the species in sect.
Parkia Parkia
that have long staminodes projecting from their basal flowers (Fig.
166A, E, F, G
) are superficially similar to those of
Dichrostachys cinerea
(L.) Wight & Arn., and the pale yellow capitula of
P. ulei
resemble those of some other
Mimoseae
(e.g.,
Leucaena
Benth.) in size, colour and arrangement.
Parkia
is one of the most variable genera in the
Mimoseae
. However, despite variation in the structure of the capitula, in the morphology of the flowers, fruits and seeds, in the type of germination (phaneroepigeal, phanerogeal or cryptohypogeal) and in pollen sculpturing (
Hopkins 1986
;
Luckow and Hopkins 1995
), it has been shown to be monophyletic (
Luckow and Hopkins 1995
;
Koenen et al. 2020a
;
Oliveira et al. 2021
;
Ringelberg et al. 2022
). The cradle of the genus is the Americas (
Oliveira et al. 2021
), and the greatest morphological diversity and species richness also occur here. Inter-continental trans-oceanic dispersal has most likely been facilitated by an ability in some species (e.g.,
P. discolor
Spruce ex Benth.) of the pods to float and the seeds to withstand prolonged immersion in salt water (
Hopkins 1986
).
This genus has a number of unusual characters compared with others in this and closely related clades. Some appear idiosyncratic, such as the opposite leaves in a few Neotropical and one Asian species, and the lack of root nodulation. However, many of its distinctive features can be related to reproductive biology, including the sometimes very elongated compound inflorescence axes, tough and sometimes long, pendent or erect peduncles, capitula commonly composed of very numerous, relatively large flowers, foetid floral odours, and crepuscular/nocturnal anthesis (diurnal only in
P. ulei
). Sections
Parkia
and
Platyparkia
are pollinated by bats that typically land on the capitula to lap nectar (rather than by hovering to feed), belonging to the
Phyllostomidae
in the Americas and the
Pteropodidae
in Africa, Asia and the Pacific; various non-volant mammals, insects including bees, and birds, are occasional pollen vectors and nectar and/or pollen thieves (e.g.,
Pettet 1977
;
Gruenmeier
1990
;
Birkinshaw and Colquhoun 1998
;
Hopkins 1998
;
Piechowski et al. 2010
;
Lassen et al. 2012
;
Kobayashi et al. 2021
). The smaller, less specialised capitula of sect.
Parkia Sphaeroparkia
are insect-pollinated (
P. ulei
: diurnal bees;
P. velutina
: nocturnal bees;
P. multijuga
: diverse small insects including beetles and thrips) (
Hopkins et al. 2000
;
Chaves 2015
). Partial self-incompatibility has been demonstrated in
P. biglobosa
(
Lassen et al. 2012
).
The wide range in fruit characters is reflected in a variety of dispersal mechanisms. Seed-dispersers include chimpanzees, various Neotropical and Paleotropical monkeys and perhaps birds, and for fruits that fall to the ground readily at maturity, large rodents (
Parkia multijuga
, Fig.
166N
), ruminants, and water (
P. discolor
) (
Hopkins 1983
;
Hopkins and Hopkins 1983
;
Bertolani and Pruetz 2011
). In Africa, the sweet pulp around the seeds (Fig.
166I
,
P. bicolor
) and to a lesser extent the seeds themselves are attractive to primates. Amongst Neotropical monkeys, marmosets and tamarins (
Callitrichidae
) in particular consume the gum that is found inside the indehiscent fruits of many species in sect.
Parkia Parkia
or exuded from the dehiscent ones of
P. pendula
(
Peres 2000
). Some
Callitrichidae
also consume exudates from gouging the bark (e.g.,
Ramirez
et al. 1977
). Insect seed-predators include moths and, particularly in the Americas, bruchid beetles (
Chrysomelidae
:
Bruchinae
) (
Hopkins 1984
).
Taxonomic references.
Ducke (1949)
;
Hagos (1962)
;
Hopkins (1983
,
1986
,
1994
);
Nielsen (1981b
,
1985a
,
1992
);
Villiers (2002)
.