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PERKIXS — THE LEGUMINOSAE OF POETO RICO. 181 



wings obliquely oblongs somewhat longer than the obtuse keel; upper stamen free; 

 ovary stipitate, multiovulate; style filiform; stigma terminal, capitate; pod stalked, 

 oblong or widely linear, compresyeJj withcnit articulations or separating into 1 to 6 

 oblong, coriaceous, striate ones; seeds oblong or ovoidj somewhat flat.^Shrubs, gla- 

 brous; heaves imparipiimate; leaflets 3 to many, spinescent or pungent; stipules 

 often pungent; flowers yellow^ in the axil^ nf the leaves, solitary or in slender few- 

 (iDwered racemes; bracts and bracteoles caducous. 



Professor Urban has written a monograph of the West Indian ppecies of this genus, 

 which is nearly related to Ormocarpum. He distinguishes two sections. The fii^t, 

 Racemosac Urb., is characterized by the numerous (15 to 25) leaflets, truncate or 

 usually emarginate at the apc^x, and by the elongated inflorescence. To this section 

 belong two species: P. ohcordata -DC, (San Domingo) and P. acidcala (Vahl) Urb. 

 (widely distributed in the West Indies, first <lescribed by Vahl as Robinia aculeata). 

 The secf>nd, Fasciculata<^ Lrl).^ has the leaflets fewer (3 to 7), linear or obovate, acumi- 

 nate or rounded at ihe apex; the inflorescence short with fasciculate flowers. This 

 section comprises also two species: P. spinifolia Vrb. (occvuTing in Haiti and San 

 Domingo) and P. marginala Sauv, (found as yet only in Cuba). P. De Candolle, the 

 author uf this genus, whit'h is very characteristic of the West Indian Leguminosae, 

 enmnerates six specieSj of which Urban thus admits only four. 



1. Pictetia aculeata (Valil) Urb. « 



(Urban, 287.) 



Shrub 3 to 4 meters high or tree 10 meters high; petioles 0.7 to 1.5 cm, long; leaflets 

 15 to 25j obovate-or})icular, rotundate, or obcordate, truncate or sometimes broadly 

 emarginate at the top, rounded or subtruncate at the base^ 0.7 to 2 cm. long and wide; 

 pedicels 25 down to 12 mm. long; flowers yellinv ; calyx-tube 3 to 4 mm. long; standard 

 17 to 22 mm. long; pod broadly linear, more or less incurved, 2.5 to 5 cm. long^ 5 to 7 

 mm. wude, with 2 to G articulations. 



Near Fajardo^ in copses on the seashore toward the light-house; between Arroyo 

 and Guayama, along roads; near Coamo, in woods at San Ildefonso; near Penuelas in 

 woods; at Salinas de Cabo Rojo in forests on the seashore. ^Haiti (Jacquin), Vieques 

 (De Candnlle), Water Island, St. Thomas^ St. John (Eggers), St. Croix (Jacquin), 

 Trinidad (probably cultivattnl). 



Local name, tachudo. St. Thomas, /?/s^tV. 



39. AESCHYNOMENE L. 



Aeschynovienc L. Sp. PI. 2: 713. 1753. 



Aedemone Kotschy, Oestr. Bot. Zeitsch, 8: 116. 1858. 



Ilerminicra GriLL. & Pkrr. Fi. Seneg. Tent. 201. pi. 5L 1832. 



Calyx lobes 5, nearly e([ual or united into two lips, either entire or the upper one 

 2-lo1)ed, the lower 3-!obed; i)etals with short claws; standard orbicular; wings obliquely 

 <j1.>ovate (oblong, about e([ual to the standard; keel sometimes obovate, obtuse^ nearly 

 straight, sometimes narrow, acute or beaked, and mucli curved, the petals free or con- 

 nected by means of little hairs, or connate; stamens usually all united in a sheath more 

 or less split on both the u])per and the lower edge, dividing the stamens into 2 bundles 

 of 5 each; anthers reniform; ovary stipitate. with 2 to many ovules; style incurved, the 

 stigma terminal, sometimes subcapitate; pod t^tlpitate, more or less linear, straight, 

 annular, or falcate, smooth or muricate on the flat or slightly convex faces, separating 

 into 2 to many short, flat, usually indehiscentj reticulated articulatit>ns. — Procumbent 



« For illustrations see Cook and Collins, ph. 42^ 43, facing p. 218 (as Pictetia anstata). 



