Morphological, anatomical and developmental descriptions of P. violaceus fruits and seeds were made in order to verify the origin of the pericarpic wing and the occurrence of polyembryonic seeds, previously described for other Dalbergieae genera. The fruit is a circular, glabrous samara. Seeds show some typical characters of the Faboideae specially in the hilar region. We describe six different fruit developmental stages. The pericarpic wing originates from the expansion of the ovary wall; the pericarp grows dorsiventrally, apically and basally, producing a flattened structure. In all material analysed, we do not find polyembryonic seeds. We also conclude that the pericarp of P. violaceus is unusual because of the fusion of its ventral vascular bundles, a feature that is considered phylogenetically derived for the group.
anatomy; fruit; morphology; Pterocarpus violaceus; seed
