104 FLOUA OF JAMAICA Cassia 



5. C. spectabilis DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 90 (1813); leaflets, 

 4-15 pair's, ovate-elliptical to oblong-elliptical, acute or sub- 

 acuminate, 37*5 cm. 1.; glands wanting. Collad. Hist. (7a.s-.s-. 

 115, t. 7; Grisel*. op. cit. 208; Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxvli. 

 529. C. Humboldtiana DC. Prodr. ii. 489 (1825). C. Trinitatis 

 Reiclienb. ex DC. Prodr. ii. 489 (1825). 



March ! gardens, Mandeville, Harris & Britton ! Fl. Jam. 10,616. 

 Trinidad, Central America, northern S. America. 



Tree; twigs, inflorescence, and under surface of leaves softly hairy. 

 Panicle large, terminal, corymbose, with yellow flowers. Sepals 5-7 

 mm. 1. Petals l'5-2'5 cm. 1., 3 upper obovate-elliptical, spreading, 2 lower 

 curved over the centre of the flower, one elliptical, the other falcately 

 oblong. Ovary curved, glabrous. Pod shortly stalked, cylindrical, 

 irregularly constricted between the seeds, to 2 - 5 dm. 1., about 1 cm. br. 

 We doubt whether this species can be considered indigenous. 



I 6. C. oeeidentalis L. Sp. PL 377 (1753); leaflets, 4-6 pairs, 



ovate-elliptical, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute or shortly 

 acuminate, oblique at base, 2-7(-9) cm. 1. (the lower even as 

 small as 1 cm. 1.), glabrous, but margin ciliolulate ; gland at 

 the base of the petiole, tuberculate ; racemes in the upper axils, 

 shortly stalked, with a few bright orange-yellow flowers close 

 together, the uppermost racemes forming a short panicle.- 

 Collad. Hist. Cass. 107; Descourt. FL Ant. ii. t. 135; Macf. Jam. 

 i. 344; Griseb. loc. cit.; Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxvii. 532. 

 C. falcata L. loc. cit. C. frutescens Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8 (1768). 

 C. herbacea major erecta &c. Browne Hist. Jam. 224. Senna 

 oeeidentalis odore &c. Sloane Cat. 148 & Hist. ii. 48, t. 175, /. 3, 4 

 (in part). Senna spuria oeeidentalis c. Commel. Amst. 51, t. 26. 

 Specimen from Hort. Cliff, in Herb. Mus. Brit. ; and one from 

 Browne in Herb. Linn, named by Linnseus. 



Stinking Weed, Wild Coffee. 



Sloane Herb. vi. 30! Tate, Pasmore in Herb. Sloane clxii. 261! 

 Houstoun \ Browne \ Wright \ waste places, Broughton ! Macfadyen ! Green- 

 wich, McNab ! King's House grounds, J. P. 610, Harris ! Gordon Town, 

 Balll also Fawcettl Arcadia, Mrs. Sewelll Temple Hall, 700 ft., Thomp- 

 son \ Porus, Lloyd ; Manchioneal ; Spanish Town ; Harris \ Fl. Jam. 

 5999, 6786, 7993. Tropics, "probably of American origin" (Bentham). 



Herb or under shrub, 3-5 ft. high, stinking. Stipules broadly triangular, 

 oblique at base, apex a long acute point, glabrous, very soon dropping off, 

 7-8 mm. 1. Sepals green or slightly coloured, veined, 6-10 mm. 1. Petals 

 (white when dry) veined, 10-14 rnm. 1. Stamens 6 perfect ; 3 staminodes 

 with broad blade. Ovary villcse. Pod slightly curved, 5-5-12 cm. L, 

 6-8 mm. br., at first flat with thickened margins, when ripe thick-com- 

 pressed with broad margins, glabrous. Seeds " at least in the lower part 

 of the pod, become more or less flattened and parallel with the transverse 

 partitions ; in the upper part they are sometimes flattened parallel with 

 the valves" (Bentham). 



The root is diuretic. A decoction of the leaves, taken internally and 

 applied externally, is used as a cure for itch and other cutaneous diseases, 

 also of mange. The seeds are used to destroy ringworm ; and, roasted, 

 they are considered to be a substitute for coffee, although analysis has 

 failed to discover caffein or other alkaloid in them. 



