88 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
violacea Jacq. from Cartagena. Though Kunth did not actually designate the former 
species as Lonchocarpus violaceus, he obviously indicated the convenience of doing 
so. On the other hand, the identity of the plant from Cartagena, described by Jac- 
quin, with the West Indian species to which Bentham’s name was applied is by no 
means certain, since the former is described as having 3 or 4-foliolate leaves, short 
pedicels, flowers with the color and scent of the violet, and diadelphous stamens,! al! 
characters conspicuously absent in the latter. Hence the name Lonchocarpus violaceus 
as applied by Bentham must be discarded, first, because it is manifestly a synonym 
and, second, because Bentham’s plant is neither of the species originally designated as 
Robinia violacea. As to Robinia sepium Swartz,? it is described as a shrub or small tree 
often 20 feet high, with 3-foliolate leaves, a bilabiate, 5-toothed calyx, and a lanceolate 
ovary, all characters which are not found in Bentham’s plant. Lastly, I expect to 
show that Lonchocarpus punctatus H. B. K. is a distinct species. Many other forms 
which appear in our American collections under the name of L. violaceus do not belong 
there. 
As understood here, L. benthamianus has a very reduced area of distribution, being 
found, so far as is known, only in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Barbados, and Montserrat. 
It probably occurs in the intermediate islands also. 
Lonchocarpus punctatus H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 6: 383. 1823. FicurRE 38. 
A tree, the branchlets terete, grayish, glabrous, lenticellate. 
Leaves mostly 7-foliolate, sometimes 5 or 9-foliolate, entirely glabrous, the rachis 
slender, subterete, more or less distinctly canaliculate, 7 to 12cm. long. Leaflets sub- 
coriaceous, petiolulate, densely pellucid-punctate, the 
dots appearing (with or without lens) as black spots on the 
faces of the blade; petiolules glabrous, canaliculate, 4 
mm. long; blades ovate-oblong, rounded at the base, 
obtusely acuminate at the apex, minutely reticulate, 3 
to 5 cm. long, 1.5 to 3.8 cm. broad, light green and sublus- 
trous above, paler beneath. Stipules not seen. 
Racemes axillary, paniculate at the ends of the branch- 
lets, the flowers sweet-scented, the rachis glabrous, more 
or less angulate, 7 to 16 cm. long. Peduncles and pedi- 
cels glabrous, the former biflorous, 4 to 8 mm. long, the 
latter about 6 mm. long; bracts and bractlets very small, 
ovate, ciliate. Calyx broadly cupulate, usually truncate, 
sometimes subdentate, glabrous, 4.5 to 5 mm. long, more 
FiG. 38.—Lonchocarpus punctatus, oF less spotted (when seen against the light). Petals 
a, Standard; b, wings; ¢, carinal reddish pink, covered with numerous glandular dots 
petals; ¢, pistil. Natural size. (visible under the lens only); standard suborbicular, con- 
From Johnston 22. : : 
cave, bilobulate at the base, deeply emarginate at the 
apex, the claw inserted on the back of the basal lobules, about 2.8 mm. long, the 
blade pubescent without above the insertion of the claw, marked at the base with 
a large dark purple spot, 12 to 13 mm. long, about 15.5mm. broad; wings obovate, 
very oblique, auriculate at the base on the vexillar side, obtuse at the apex, the claw 
about 5 mm. long, the blade 10.5 to 11 mm. long, 6 mm. broad, slightly pubescent at 
the apex; carinal petals falcate, subauriculate on the vexillar margin, more or less 
pubescent without, the claw 4.5 mm. long, the blade convex near the base, 9.5 to 10mm. 
long, 4 to 5 mm. broad. Vexillar stamen free at the base. Ovary sessile, linear, 
puberulous at the base, elsewhere glabrous, about 8.5 mm. long, 7 to 9-ovulate; style 
arcuate, hairy at the base and along the carinal side up to 1 mm. from the apex; stigma 
ligulate, very small. 
Legume not known. 
Type from Cumani, Venezuela, collected by Humboldt and Bonpland. 
1 Jacq. Stirp. Amer. 210. pl. 177. f. 49. 1763. 2 Fl. Ind. Occ. 1258. 1806. 
