1.34 FLORA OF JAMAICA Minn 



times more or less erect and subshrubby ; leaves subdigitately 

 pinnate, the pinnse being close together in 2 pairs (or sometimes 

 some leaves have only 1 pair) ; leaflets in 15-27 pairs. -Bot. 

 Reg. t. 941 ; Mac/, loc. cit. ; Griseb. op. cit. 219 ; Benth. tout. n't. 

 ;>97, it in Fl. Bras. xv. pt. 2, 316. M. aculeata foliis quadripin- 

 natis Plum. PL Amer. (Burin.) t. 202. (Fig. 42.) A specimen 

 from Browne, named by Linnseus, is in Herb. Linn. 



Shame Weed. 



Browne \ Massonl Prior; March ! Cavalier's Pen, J.P. 1378, Symel 

 Kingston, Ckitel Bog Walk; Port Morant ; Lucea, Hitchcock; Porus, 

 Lloyd; Ginger Piece, Blue Mts., J.P. 1428, Campbell I Cedar Valley, 

 Watt ! Pittsfield, 500 ft. ; Scott's Hall, 700 ft. : Thompson ! Fl. Jam. 6755, 

 7916 ; Swamp, Golden Grove, Miss Walter ! A common weed in tropical 

 America (incl. W. Indies), naturalized in many parts of tropical Africa 

 and Asia. 



Stems 3-6 (9) dm. 1., glabrous or hispid, with prickles below the stipules, 

 and also scattered along the internodes. Leaf sensitive to the touch ; 

 pinnae 2-9 cm. 1. ; leaflets linear, acute, very oblique at base, '5-1 cm. 1., 

 with villose adpressed hairs on margin and generally on under surface ; 

 petiole (and rhachis) glabrous or hispid, 1*5-6 cm. 1. Stipules lanceolate 

 or linear-lanceolate with villose margins, 5-10 mm. 1. Flower-heads rosy, 

 ellipsoidal or globular. Peduncles solitary or 2-3 together, about as long 

 as, or shorter than, the petiole. Bract below each flower, 1-2 mm. 1., 

 linear with glabrous margin and shorter than the flower-bud, or linear- 

 spathulate with long villose hairs on the margin and longer than the 

 flower-bud. Calyx about '2 mm. 1. Corolla about 2 mm. 1. Stamen* 

 as many as the petals and twice or thrice as long. Pod 1-1-5 cm. 1., 

 3-4 mm. br., margins with bristles, persistent ; valves glabrous, smooth, 

 3-4-jointed. 



There are two forms : 



a. form hispidior Benth., hispid ; stipules long, 6-10 mm. 1. ; bracts 

 with villose margins, longer than the flower-bud, 2 mm. 1. 



b. form glabrior Benth., more or less glabrous; stipules shorter, 

 4-5 mm. 1. ; bracts with glabrous margins, shorter than the flower-bad, 

 1-1 '5 mm. 1. Further investigation in the field is required to determine 

 whether these are distinct forms, or whether they pass into one another. 



This species is a troublesome weed in pastures, as the prickles wound 

 the mouths of stock feeding where it grows, and are even dangerous to 

 young calves. The weed has to be cut out by hand labour, or sheep are 

 used to feed it down. The leaves are very sensitive. 



[M. bimueronata Kuntze Rev. Gen. PL i. 198 (1891); shrub 

 or tree to 25 ft. high, with (or occasionally without) prickles ; 

 pinnse in 4-8 pairs ; stipels in the form of 2 minute prickles ; 

 flower-heads white, in a panicle. M. sepiaria Benth. in Hook. 

 Journ. Bot. iv. 395 (1842), in Fl. Bras. xv. pt. 2, 364. t. 91 it in 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. xxx. 423. M. thyrsoidea Grisel). Joe. cit. 

 (1860). Acacia bimueronata DC. Prodr. //. 469 (1825). 



Brazil Mace a. 



Near Christiana, Harris ! Spaldings, Miss Wood ! Hanbury, near 

 Kendal, Harris & Britton ! Fl. Jam. 8242, 10,625. Brazil, Paraguay ; 

 naturalized in Jamaica, Singapore, and southern China. 



Pinnse. 2 '5-5 cm. 1. ; leaflets in numerous pairs, linear-oblong, midrib 

 submedian, 5-5-10 mm. 1. ; stipules bristle-like, 4-5 mm. 1., soon falling. 



