LEGUMINOSiE. CCVII. Rudolphia. CCVIII. Butea. 



373 



r ~ 



Cult. The species of Coral-tree have fine large leaves and Lin. syst. Diadelphiay Decdndria. Calyx campanulatc, 5- 



toothed, the 2 superior teeth approximate and almost connected. 



splendid flowers, and are therefore worth cultivating in every 



collection of stove plants ; they all thrive well in light loamy 



soil. In order to bring them into flower they should be placed 



on shelves in the stove, when they have lost their leaves 



giving them hardly any water, and when they begin to shew 



flowers they may be watered more freely. Cuttings of all, if , 



taken off at a joint without depriving them of their leaves, strike ovate, roundish, stipellate leaflets. Racemes many-flowered. 



root readily in sand, under a hand-glass, in moist heat. E.laii' Flowers 3 together, on short pedicels, and furnished with 2 



Corolla with a lanceolate spreading vexillum ; keel incurved, 

 about equal in length to the wings and vexillum. Stamens dia- 

 delphous. Legume stipitate, compressed, flat, membranous, in- 

 dehiscent, 1 -seeded at the apex. Seed large, compressed. 

 Asiatic, unarmed trees, with pinnately trifoliate leaves, and large 



ifblia _ 



in the open ground, in a warm sheltered situation ; in such a situa- 

 tion, however, they are always killed to the stump in winter. 



CCVIL RUDOXPHIA (in honour of Charles Asmund Ru- 

 dolph, a botanist of Jena). Willd, nov. act. scrut. berol. 3. p. 

 L51, spec. 3. p. 918. — Erythrina, spec, of Lin. and Juss. — Butea, 

 spec, of Pers. 



LiN. SYST. Diadelphiay Decdndria. Calyx tubular, bilabiate, 

 4-clcft; upper lobe largest and obtuse, lower one 



bracteoles each, under the calyx. Corolla of a deep scarlet 

 colour. Down on the calyxes usually black and velvety. 



This 



genus probably agrees better with the tribe Dalbergiece than with 



the present. 



1 B. FRONDosA (Roxb. cor. 1. p. 22. t. 21. asiat. res. 3. p. 

 469.) branches pubescent; leaflets roundish, obtuse, or emar- 

 ginate, rather velvety beneath ; corolla 4-times the length of the 



' , S. Native of the East 



calyx ; calycine teeth acutish. 



^ 



Indies, on the mountains. — Rheed. mal. 6. t. 16 and 17. B. 



.^ ^ , ,. acute, 2 frondosa, Kern. icon. sel. 1. t. 4. Erythrina monosperma. Lam. 



lateral ones very short. Corolla with an oblong-linear, straight, jj^^^ ^ 3gj^ g^j ^^^ sutures of the legumes clothed with 



very long vexillum. Wings very narrow, shorter than the calyx, ^j^j^^ tomentuiTi, but the valves are hardly pubescent. Flowers 



as well as parts of the carina. Stamens diadelphous. Legume g inches long. The red juice which flows from the tree evapo- 



compressed, flat, sessile, many-seeded, mucronate by the style. 

 Seeds flat. — Climbing shrubs with simple leaves, which are fur- 

 nished with 2 stipels each at the top of the petiole. 



1 R. volu'bilis (Willd. 1. c. 

 branches dotted from tubercles 



S. 



d. Erythrina 



leaves glabrous, cordate, ovate, 

 acuminated ; racemes bearing flowers from the base. T2 . ^ 

 Native of Porto-Rico, on the highest mountains, and of Mex 

 Flowers scarlet, an inch and a half long. 



Var, /3, pilosiuscula (D. C. prod. 2. p. 4 

 petioles pilose. Erythrina cordifolia, Juss. 

 Portoric^nsis, Desf. 



Twining Rudolphia. Shrub tw. 



2 R. ROSEA (Tussac, fl, ant. t. 22.) branches smooth, glabrous ; 

 leaves ovate-oblong, glabrous, acuminated ; racemes peduncu- 

 late. T2 . p. S. Native of St. Domingo, 

 hardly an inch long. Legume pubescent, 

 in Plum. icon. t. 102. f. 



rates to the consistence of gum, which is astringent, and is called 



gum-lac or East India kino, but is not so good as the African 



kino. The expressed juice of the fresh flowers, and infusions of 



Vahl. eel. 3. p. 41. t. 30.) ^^^e dried flowers yield a water colour brighter than gamboge ; 



^^^^^ ^^^^ ^.^j^ ^ ^^^ durable yellow lake in a large proportion. 



Flowers scarlet. 

 Perhaps the figure 



„„. .. 1. is referrible to this species, and all 



the synonymes to the following, but the leaves in our plant are 

 not peltate as in it, the flowers are smaller and the legume 

 is not glabrous nor torose at the seeds, as represented in the 

 'figure of Plumier. 



/fo^e-flowered Rudolphia. Clt. 1826. Shrub tw. 



3 R. peltaVa (Willd. 1. c.) leaves rather cordate, oblonsr- 

 lanceolate, peltate ; raceme on a long peduncle. 

 Native of St. Domincro. 



The lac insects are frequently found upon the smaller branches 

 and petioles of the tree; but whether the natural juices of its 

 bark contribute to improve their red colouring matter has not 

 been determined. 



Frondose Butea. Clt. 1796. Tree 40 feet. 



2 B. supe'rba (Roxb. cor. 1. t. 22.) branches glabrous; 

 leaflets roundish, obtuse, velvety beneath ; corolla 4-times the 

 length of the calyx ; calycine teeth acute. Ij . '^. S. Native 

 of Coromandel, on the mountains. This is a very shewy tree, 

 approaching the preceding species, but is larger in all its 

 parts. It yields similar juice. 



Superb Butea. Clt. 1798. .Shrub tw. 



3 B. PARViFLORA (Roxb. hort, beng. p. 53.) branchlets pu- 

 bescent ; leaflets roundish, obtuse, clothed with silky tomentuui 

 beneath ; racemes panicled ; corolla hardly twice the length of 

 the calyx ; calycine teeth acute. ^ . '^. S, Native of Coroman- 



T?. 



S. 



del. Flowers 4 lines long- 



u-fl 



Shrub tw. 



4 B. Braamia^na (D.C. prod. 2. p. 415.). ^2.^.0. Native 

 Plum. ed. Burm. t. 102. f. 1. bry- of China. Braam. icon. chin. t. 23. This tree comes very near 



thrina plamsiliqua, Lin. spec. 993. Lam. diet. 2. p. 392. Per- 

 haps the same as the last species. Flowers probably scarlet. 



i'e/^a/e-leaved Rudolphia. Shrub tw. 



4 R. du'bia (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 6. p. 432. 

 |- 591.) branches angular, sulcated, glabrous ; petioles winged ; 

 leaves somewhat deltoid-ovate, and somewhat hastately cordate 

 at the base, and acuminated at the apex, glabrous ; peduncles ax- 

 illary ; legume beaked by the style. T2 . ^. S. Native of New 

 wanada, in shady places near Turbaco, ex Kunth, and in Cuba, 

 about the Havannah, Willd. Glycine sagitt^ta, Humb. in Willd. 



^urn. 757. Flowers scarlet or rose-coloured. 

 Doubtfx 

 Cult. 



to B. frondosa, but differs in the leaflets being edged with white, 

 probably with white tomentum, in the calyx being greenisli, 

 in the flowers being fewer on the racemes, in the genitals being 

 more exserted, and in the petals diverging more. 



Braam's Butea. Tree tw. 



Cult. The species of this genus bear large fine leaves, and 

 large shewy scarlet flowers. Their culture and propagation are 

 the same as for the species of JErythrina^ which see. 



Tribe VL 



Clt. 1815. Shrub tw. 



JE 



The species are elegant climbers, bearing large scarlet ters with Dalbcrgia. Bronn. diss. p. 134. exclusive of some 



flowers, and are well adapted °for covering the rafters in stoves 

 or stove conservatories. Their culture and propagation are the 

 same as for the species Erythrina, which see. 



genera.. D. C. mem. legum. x. Corolla papilionaceous (f. 51. 

 ft.), perigynous. Stamens variously connected. Embryo with 





W 



