1. Caesalpinioideae
Dr. B. KARUNAI SELVI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BOTANY
V.V.VANNIAPERUMAL COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
VIRUDHUNAGAR- 626 001
TAMIL NADU, INDIA
karunaiselvi@vvvcollege.org
2. Caesalpinioideae
Members are mostly tropical and subtropical trees and
shrubs
Comprising about 150 genera and 2,700 species
It is a subfamily, placed in the large family
Fabaceae or Leguminosae
Its name is formed from the generic name Caesalpinia
It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily.
Theyare mainly trees distributed in the tropics and
subtropics
3. Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Peacock flower
Dwarf poinciana.
Prickly shrub or
small tree with pinnate
leaves.
This plant grows only to a
height of about 3 meters
Retains its leaves
throughout the year
Blooms continuously.
Flowers - appear in clusters
on long erect stems
Have exceptionally long
stamens
Prominent pistil which
protrudes from the center.
The most common color is
red-orange,
But one variety has pure
yellow flowers.
5. Vegetative characters
Habit – Tree and Shrub
It shows great variation
in habit i.e. trees
Delonix regia,
Tamarindus,
Caesalpinia,
Saraca indica,
Cassia fistula,
Bauhinia
Cassia sophera & Cassia
auriculata - Shrub
C. occidentalis – under
shrub
C. tora - Annual herb
Bauhinia vahlii - Woody
climber
Parkinsonia - Xerophyte
14. Calyx
Sepals 5 - Polysepalous
Odd sepal - larger, hooded and anterior in position
Imbricate aestivation
In Tamarindus the two posterior sepals are united
Yellow in Collour
Often petaloid
15. Corolla
Petals 5 - Polypetalous
Ascendingly imbricate aestivation
Odd petal - smaller, clawed and posterior in
position
Petals are absent in Saraca
16. Corolla
In Tamarindus there are only three posterior
petals
Copaifera saraca the petals are totally
reduced; free, ascending imbricate aestivation,
posterior petal is innermost.
17. Androecium
Stamens 10, rarely connate
Anthers – dithecous, two celled, basifixed
Filaments are free and unequal
Dehisce by longitudinal slits or by pores
Introrse.
18. Reduction in number of stamens by the
formation of staminodes.
In Cassia there are 3 posterior staminodes.
Saraca 3-8 stamens
Tamarindus only 3 stamens and monadelphous
19. Gynoecium
Monocarpellary
Ovary superior or slightly inferior
Ovary - Unilocular
Marginal placentation
Straight or curved
Style long
Stigma simple/ Capitate
21. Delonix regia
Royal poinciana, flame tree, May Flower.
Small to mid-sized tree, with a flat to umbrella-
shaped canopy and brilliant, orange-red flowers.
Gulmohar gets 30-40 ft tall, but its elegant wide-
spreading umbrella-like canopy can be wider
than its height.
Gumohar is naturalized in India and is widely
cultivated as a street tree.
23. Cassia fistula
A tropical ornamental tree with a trunk
consisting of hard reddish wood, growing up to
40 feet tall.
The wood is hard and heavy; it is used for
cabinet, inlay work, etc.
It has showy racemes, up to 2" long, with bright,
yellow, fragrant flowers.
These flowers are attractive to bees and
butterflies
25. Bauhinia variegata
Large and diverse tropical and subtropical genus comprising
approximately 300 species,
Most of them possess typical bi-lobed leaves.
The Purple Orchid Tree is an exotic tropical tree that blooms
over a long period of time.
The petals of Bauhinia variegata are broad and overlap - it
never open fully flat.
The flowers are 12-inch-long, slender, brown, flat seed pods
Bauhinia purpurea can reach up to 20 feet tall and have a 25
foot crown.
28. Parkinsonia aculeata
Spiny shrub
Jerusalem thorn is a small tree growing to 25
ft tall with a short trunk
Graceful, spreading, sometimes weeping,
crown to 20 ft wide.
Flowers are yellow and fragrant, 2 cm in
diameter, growing from a long slender stalk in
groups of 8-10.
30. Saraca asoca
Saraca asoca is an evergreen shrub or small tree
They have a dense, spreading crown of horizontal
branches;
It can grow up to 10 metres tall.
Calyx developed into a tubular,
Corolla-like structure, subtended by two calyx-like
bracts;
Stamens borne on the margin of the calyx; pistil united
below to one side of the calyx tube.
32. Tamarindus indica
Tamarind is a large, evergreen tree.
24 m in height and 7 m in girth.
The most useful part is the pod (also called the fruit).
Pods are 7.5–20 cm long, 2.5 cm broad and 1 cm
thick.
Constricted between the seeds, slightly curved,
brownish-ash coloured, scurfy.
The outermost covering of the pod is fragile and
easily separable
