CAESALPINIOIDEAE

Trees, shrubs, climbers, very rarely herbs. Leaves usually alternate, usually pinnate or bipinnate, pinnae or leaflets 1 to many pairs, leaves rarely simple, trifoliate. Stipules paired, mostly caducous. Stipels usually absent. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, rarely leaf- opposed, racemes or panicles, sometimes pendulous, rarely cymose or spicate. Flowers variable in size and colour, zygomorphic, rarely actinomorphic, usually bisexual, pentamerous, perigynous, usually showy. Sepals 5 or 4 by the union of 2 upper lobes, free or partly united, imbricate or rarely valvate, often coloured. Petals usually 5 or fewer, free, rarely absent, ascending imbricate, adaxial (posterior) petal innermost in bud, others variously imbricate. Stamens usually 10 or fewer, free or variously connate of variable length; filaments more or less unequal; some stamens functionally reduced, some staminodes; extrastaminal disc sometimes present. Pistil monocarpellary; ovary free, sessile or stipitate, stipe more or less fused to the disc or calyx tube, unilocular, ovules 1 to many, placentation marginal; style single, undivided; stigma simple. Fruit a legume or indehiscent drupaceous, lomentum or samaroid. Seeds sometimes arilllate.

152 genera and ca. 2800 species