38 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
In a footnote following the original description, it is stated that 
the following species, heretofore considered as belonging to other 
genera, really pertain to the new genus: 
Robinia sericea Poir. Dalbergia domingensis Turp. 
Robinia violacea Beauv. Amerimnum scandens Willd. 
Dalbergia pentaphylla Poir. Amervmnum latifolium Willd. 
As will be shown hereafter the generic identity of another Robinia 
violacea, described and named by Jacquin, must be considered 
doubtful.! 
Two new species were described by Kunth, Lonchocarpus puncta- 
tus, from the shaded forests near Cumané, Venezuela, and L. macro- 
phyllus, growing at Angostura de Carare, on the banks of the Mag- 
dalena River, Colombia. The first I regard as the type species of 
the genus, although this place may be claimed for L. sericeus H. B. K. 
(Robinia sericea Poir.), heading the list of transferred species. It 
seems reasonable to believe that the species first considered by Kunth 
were those of which he was actually handling specimens, and that the 
relationship of the others became evident only after he was thor- 
oughly familiarized with these. 
Of the earlier species transferred to this genus by its author, 
Robinia sericea Poir., Dalbergia domingensis Turp., and Amerimnum 
latifohkum Willd. have without much questioning taken the place 
assigned to them, undergoing the appropriate change of name, and 
are known to-day respectively as Lonchocarpus sericeus, L. domin- 
gensis, and L. latifolius H. B. K. Dalbergia pentaphylla Poir. has 
been found to be a synonym of L. latifolius, and Amerimnum scan- 
dens Willd. is the Venezuelan Pterocarpus scandens Poir. The name 
violaceus proves invalid under Lonchocarpus for reasons to be stated 
under L. benthamianus.! 
FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERS. 
Lonchocarpus belongs, with several large genera (Dalbergia, 
Machaerium, Pterocarpus) and a greater number of monotypic or 
small ones, in the division of the Papilionatae known as the sub- 
family Dalbergieae, the members of which are trees or, less often, 
shrubs, sometimes of climbing habit. One of the fundamental 
characters of the. subfamily, by which Lonchocarpus can always be 
distinguished from Robinia and Gliricidia, provided fruit-bearing 
specimens are at hand, is the indehiscent legume. When there are 
no fruits the decision is often difficult, even to the experienced 
botanist. In Lonchocarpus the leaflets are always exstipellate, but 
this is supposed to be the case also with several species of Robinia, 
as well as the whole genus Gliricidia. 
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