Pterodon (plant) explained

Pterodon is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes four species of trees native to Brazil and Bolivia. Typical habitats include seasonally-dry tropical forest, woodland (cerrado), and thorn shrubland (caatinga), often on rocky outcrops. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae.

Pterodon can be distinguished from other members of the Dipterygeae as follows:

the leaf rachis is exalate, the fruit is a cryptosamara with oil glands in the epicarp, the seed testa is smooth and the raphe is apparent, with the hilum in a lateral position covered by an aril and a smooth embryo.^[1]

Species

Four species are accepted:^{[2] [3]}

• Pterodon abruptus (Moric.) Benth.
• Pterodon apparicioi
• Pterodon emarginatus Vogel

• Pterodon pubescens

Notes and References

1. Gonçalves Leite V, Freitas Mansano V, Pádua Teixeira S . 2014 . Floral ontogeny in Dipterygeae (Fabaceae) reveals new insights into one of the earliest branching tribes in papilionoid legumes . . 174 . 4 . 529–550 . 10.1111/boj.12158 . free .
2. Web site: ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for Pterodon . . International Legume Database & Information Service . Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics . 30 January 2014 .
3. Web site: GRIN species records of Pterodon . USDA . USDA . ARS . Agricultural Research Service . National Genetic Resources Program . Germplasm Resources Information Network—(GRIN) [Online Database] . National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland . 30 January 2014 .