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Title: IDENTIFICATION OF LEGUME (FABACEAE) SEEDS TO GENUS USING INTKEY (DELTA)

Author
item Kirkbride, Joseph
item GUNN, CHARLES - BREVARD, NC
item DALLWITZ, MICHAEL - CSIRO, AUSTRALIA

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/14/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: None required.

Technical Abstract: The database, utilizing the Intkey software of CSIRO, can be used for interactive identification of legume seeds and fruits to genus and for the retrieval of information on the seeds, fruits, and distribution of legume genera, customized according to the needs of the user. The legume family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) includes 686 genera and more than 17,000 species distributed between three subfamilies: Caesalpinioideae, Mimosoideae, and Faboideae. The Caesalpinioideae has 23% of the genera, Mimosoideae 11%, and Faboideae 66%. For each genus, the following characters were recorded in a DELTA-formatted database: eight classification characters, 157 for fruits, 127 for seeds, seven for distribution, one for notes, and three for metadata. There were 1,377 generic and 205 character images attached to the genera and characters, for verification of identifications and interpretation of the character states. The smallest legume seed is in the genus Ononis and is 0.5 mm long, and the largest legume seed is in the genus Mora and is 180 mm long. Twelve genera have seeds lacking a testa of which seven have all species lacking a testa and five have a few species lacking a testa and the majority with a testa. The subfamily Faboideae has relatively smaller seeds, with an average length of 9.1 mm, than the seeds of subfamilies Caesalpinioideae and Mimosoideae, with average lengths of 14 and 18 mm, respectively.