Tab. 7353. 

 SESBANIA punicea. 



Native of South Brazil and Argentina. 



Nat. Ord. Legtjminos.e.— Tribe Galege^. 

 Genus Sesbania, Pers. ; (Benth. & Hook.f. Gen. Plant, vol. i. p. 502.) 



Sesbania_ (Daubentoma) punicea ; frutex v. arbuscula glabra, foliis pinnatis, 

 rachi gracili, foliolis 8-15-jugis oppositis oblongis obovato-oblongisve 

 obtusis apiculatis, stipulis subulatis, racemis nutantibus multifloris, 

 bracteolis setaceis, floribus aurantiaco-coccineis, calyce turbinato trun- 

 cato sub 5-dentato, vexillo amplo rotundato reflexo, alis falcato-oblongis 

 obtusis, carinas petalis alis cequilongis valde incurvis unguibus, calyce 

 duplo longioribus, legumine stipitato crasso tetragono et tetraptero 

 4-10-spermo. 



S. punicea, Benth. in Mart. FL Bras. vol. xv. pars i. p. 43. 



Datjbentonia punicea, DC. Mem. Legum. p. 285 ; Prodr. vol. ii. p. 267, 



Piscidia punicea, Gav. Icon. iv. t. 316. 



iEscHYNOMEXE miniata, Orteg. Nov. PI. BTort. But. Matr. Dee. p. 28. 



It is singular that so beautiful a plant as that here 

 figured, and one occurring abundantly over a very large 

 area in the longest settled and most accessible regions of 

 temperate South America (being of frequent occurrence 

 close to the city of Buenos Ayres) should not have become 

 long ago a favourite in English conservatories. It was 

 introduced into Europe in the last century, and was 

 figured by Cavanilles in 1797, as a native of New Spain 

 (Mexico). It was again published by Ortega in his 

 " Descriptions of new and rare plants of the Madrid 

 Botanical Gardens " in the year 1800, as JEschynomyne 

 miniata, with the same locality, and the name is to be 

 found in Loudon's " Hortus Britannicus " (1830) as 

 Daubentonia punicea (that given to it by De Candolle 

 in 1825) where it is mentioned as a "moist stove" 

 plant, introduced in 1820, and still as a native of New 

 Spain. 



In so far as I have ascertained the first person who 

 solved the problem of the genus and native country of 

 8. punicea was Bentham, whose unrivalled knowledge of 



May 1st, 1894. 



