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PERKINS — THE LEGUMINOSAE OE POETO KICO, 



203 



2. Erythrina corallodendron L. 



(Urban, 30^0 



Slirub3 to4metorshiglij rli!nl>ingj ortreeS toG melerHliiglij arinod; leaflets broadly 

 ovate-rhomboid, 1 to 1.5 cm. widCj 5 to 14.5 cm. long; flowers inaxillary racemes 12 

 to 35 cm. long, coral-colored; standard 5 to G.5 cm. long; calyx 8.5 to 10 nun. long. 

 a little exceeded by the wings; pod 10 cm. Itmg^ 1 cm. wide. 



Near Bayamon, in*^calcareoU8 mountains; near Sabana Grande, in thickets on the 

 rocky banks of Estero River near the cataract; near A fiasco; near Ilincon, in thickets 

 on the shore at Cabo San Francesco. — TSormuda (introduced, Hemsley), Cuba, Jamaica 

 (in the form grandiflora), Cayman (Hitchcock), St, Thomas (Eggers), St. Croix (do.), 

 St. John, St. Bartholomew (WiksU'om), St. Ivitts (Euphrasen), Antigua (Grisobach), 

 Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago (in the form grandijlora)^ 



Mexico. Tropical America, 



Erythrina corallodendron on account of the size of its flowers is a very noticeable tree. 

 It differs from E. juicropteryx in having a short keel and red seeds. The three Ery- 

 thrina species of Porto Rico are at first armed, later they become glabrous. 



Fnun the soft, corky wood of E, corallodendron^ coral wood, arbol madre of the Mexi- 

 cans, are manufactured corks, light ladders, etc. 



Local namc^ bacare. 



3. Erythrina micropteryx Poepp 



(Urban, 301.) 



Tree 15 to 20 meters high, armed; leaflets 11 to 10 cm.long, 7 tol2 cm. wide, orbicular- 



■m 



oval, obtuse or abruptly acuminate; flowers in racemes, bright rrd; calyx 6 mm. 

 deep; standard elliptical or narrowly oval, 3.5 to 4.2 cm. long; wings twice as long as 

 the calyx, obovate or o-sal-elliptical; keel a little shorter than the standard, bidentate; 

 pod 7 to 13 cm. long, chartaceous; seeds dark l)rown. 



Cultivated for shading coffee plantations and seemingly wild near Bayamon; near 

 Cayey, at Quebrada Arriba; near Adjuntas, on Mount Capaes; near Utuado, at Salto 

 Arriba; near Lares, at Mirasol and at Espino; near Quebradillas and near Toa Alta. — 

 Cuba, Jamaica, Guadeloupe^ ihirtini([ue, Triiiitlad. Indigenous in Peru. 



The long keel of E. mvropferyx makes it easy to distinguish from the other Porto 

 Rican species; the brown seeds, from E. corallodendron. 



Local names, bncare, paJo de boyo; Oiiba, penon de Cuba (Eggers); Guadeloupe, 

 immortel jaune (Duss); Martiui(|ue, erythnne de cayenne (^Ilahn); Peru, a^ma-dm 

 (Spruce). 



56. RTTDOLPHIA Wilkl. 



Radolphia Wii^ld. Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berlin Neue Schrift 3: 451. 1801. 



Calyx tvibulift>rmj the 2 upper segments connate ur subconnate, the 2 lateral much 

 smaller, the lowest one cuspidate and slighlly arcuate; standard ol^long, plieate; the 

 wings and the free petals of the keel narrow and much shorter than the standard; 

 t:pper stamen free; ovary stipitate or sessih^; style more or less dilated in the middle; 

 stigma terminal, subcapitate; pod elongated, flat, tipped with the persistent base of 

 the style, 2-valved; valves hnally tortuose, pulpy witliin; seeds flat, obovate. — Twin- 

 ing undershrubs or herbs; leaves with one leaflet; flowers elongated, purple, red, or 

 flesh-colored, in axillary ra<^emes or fasciculate on the rachis; bracts and l^racteules 

 small and caducous. 



