140 FLORA OF JAMAICA Ac 



vera fcc. Pink. P/////. /. 251, f. 1 A: J////. 3. A. arabica WV/A/. Sfp. 

 P/. n>. 1085 (1806); Hayne ArzneyJe. sc. t. 32; JVerx P/. JIM/V. 

 t. 333 ; Tl7/x. hi R< ports Geolog. Jam. 277 ; Grind), lot: cit. : 

 Be nth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. OCA-J: 506. A. vera Willd. loc. cit. 

 Mimosa nilotica L. Sp. PL 521 (1753). M. arabica Lam. 

 /'. 19 (1783); Eoxb. Corom. PL t. 149. Type in Herb. Linn. 



Naturalized; Massonl Wilson; Lucca. .Hitchcock. Tropical Africa, 

 extending to India. 



A shrub or tree. Plnn;e 1-2-3 cm. 1. ; leaflets linear, blunt, petiole and 

 rhachis puberulous, with several glands. Calyx 1- 2-1 -5 mm. 1. Corolla 

 twice as long as calyx. Pod scarcely splitting open, straight, flat or 

 slightly convex over the seeds.] 



2. Shrubs or trees; stipules not spiny; prickles small, in 

 pairs below the stipules, or scattered. Flowers in spikes 

 or globular heads ; peduncles axillary, or paniculate at 

 the end of branches. 



[A. suma Kurz ex Brandis For. FL 187 (1874) ; tree ; prickles 

 small, in pairs below the stipules ; flowers in spikes ; pod glabrous, 

 net-veined. Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxx. 519. A. catechu 

 Benth. in Hook. Lond. Journ. i. 510 (1842) ; Macf. Jam. i. 314 ; 

 Gr'tKeb. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 220, and most authors (non Willd.). 



Naturalized ; Sloane Herb. vi. 49* ! Lane in Herb. Sloane clxii. 267 t 

 Wilson; March; Constant Spring, 600 ft. ; Chancery Hall, 400 ft.; Campbelll 

 Constant Spring ; foot of Red Hills, St. Andrew ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 6140, 

 6479, 8790, 11,834. Native of tropical Asia and Africa. 



Tree 15 to 20 ft. high ; bark white or grey ; twigs, petioles and inflores- 

 cence velvety. Pinnae in 10-40 pairs, 2-6 cm. 1. ; leaflets in 30-50 pairs, 

 linear, somewhat acute, 3-7 mm. 1. Large elliptical gland on petiole, and 

 smaller ones at the base of some of the pairs of pinnae. Spikes 7-10 cm. 1. 

 Flowers white, changing to pale yellow. Calyx 2 mm. L, densely pubescent. 

 Corolla 3(-4) mm. 1. Pod 7-12 cm. L, 1-3-1* 8 cm. br. 



This species has been generally known as A. catechu Willd. by authors 

 including Bentham (1842), but the latter botanist has, in his monograph 

 on the Mimosese, correctly assigned the name A. catechu to the species 

 with fewer leaflets (20-30 pairs), the corolla 2-3 times as long as the calyx, 

 and the bark brown. Both species yield cutch. 



Cutch or Catechu is prepared by boiling down a decoction of chips of 

 the heart-wood, and is especially valuable as an astringent in chronic 

 diarrhoea and dysentery. The wood seasons well, takes a fine polish, and 

 is extremely durable. It is not attacked by white ants or toredo. It is 

 used in India for oil and sugar-cane crushers, agricultural implements, und 

 wheelwrights' work. A cubic foot weighs about 70 Ibs. (Watt).] 



3. A. riparia H. B. & K. Nov. Gen. A: % vi. 276 (1824) ; 

 shrub or tree, with branches climbing into higher trees ; prickles 

 scattered ; flowers in globular heads ; pod velvety, glaucous. - 

 Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxx. 528 k in Fl. Bras. xv. pt. 2, 403 : 

 Urb. Symb. Ant. w. 266. A. sarmentosa Griseb. PL Carib. 64 

 (1857) & Fl. Br. W. Ind. 221 (non Drxv.) Wib. in Report* 

 Geolog. Jam. 277. 



