FLORA VITIENSIS. 11 
recesses, in which I have often taken shelter from the rain. When the tree becomes old its form is still 
more picturesque, as a number of knots and contortions are formed on the buttress, which render the out- 
lines more broken and fantastie. The wood has a fine straight grain, but being remarkably perishable, is 
seldom used, except for firewood. Occasionally, however, they cut off one of the buttresses, and thus 
obtain a good natural plank, with which they make the long paddles for their canoes, or axe-handles. 
The leaf is large and beautiful, six or eight inches in length, oblong in shape, of a dark green colour, and, 
though an evergreen, exceedingly light and delicate in its structure. The tree bears a small white flower, 
esteemed by the natives on account of its fragrance. The fruit, which [is pale-yellow or greenish-yellow 
when ripe] hangs singly or in small clusters from the slender twigs, is flat, and somewhat kidney-shaped. 
The same term is also used by the natives for this fruit and the kidney of an animal. The kernel is in a 
hard, tough, fibrous shell, covered with a thin, compact, fibrous husk. It is not eaten in a raw state; but 
though rather hard when fully ripe, it is, when roasted in a green state, soft and pleasant to the taste." 
The bark is astringent; but whether the tree yields a resinous glutinous juice, into which the Papuans 
steep the tips of their arrows, giving them a black colour, is doubtful; as the Gajanum of Rumphius, Amb. 
vol. i. p. 170. t. 65, may possibly be a different plant. 
XXIX. Cynometra, Linn. Gen. n. 519; Endl. Gen. n. 6784; Benth. Fl. Austr. vol. ii. p. 
296. Calyx ebracteatus, tubo brevi, limbi 4-partiti decidui laciniis reflexis, apice penieillatis, pos- 
tica breviore 2-nervi, :stivatione valvatis. Petala 5, omnia subzqualia, oblongo-lanceolata, summo 
intimo. Stamina 10 v. plura; filamenta filiformia, libera; anthers parvæ. Ovarium subsessile, 
.2-ovulatum. Stylus subulatus; stigma terminale. Legumen oblique et late semiorbiculatum, eras- 
sum, carnosum, turgidum, 2-valve, l-spermum. Semina crassa; radicula brevis, recta.—Arbores v. 
frutices; foliis abrupte pinnatis, 1-2- rarius co-jugis; floribus axillaribus v. lateralibus, rubris v. albis, 
fasciculatis v. racemosis.— Cynomorium, Rumph. Amb. vol. i. p. 163. 
l. C. grandiflora, A. Gray, Bot. Wilkes, p. 470. t. 52; glaberrima; foliolis 2-jugis ovalibus 
oblongisve inzquilateris seepissime emarginatis coriaceis; racemis corymbosis confertifloris ; stami- 
nibus 21-32; ovario levi; stylo breviore.—Ovalau and Vanua Levu (Seemann! n. 138; U. S. 
Expl. Exped.). d 
There are several forms of this tree, varying principally in the breadth of the leaflets. The flowers are 
white. The wood is close-grained, and used as timber. 
2. C. falcata, A. Gray, Bot. Wilkes, p. 472; foliolis 1-jugis glaberrimis ovato-lanceolatis obli- 
quis falcatis coriaceis; floribus sine pedunculo fasciculatis 10-andris, ovario lunato pubescente ; 
stylo recurvo longiore.— On the Ba coast of Viti Levu (U. S. Expl. Exped.). 
. SvBonpo III. MIMOSEZE.— Flores 5-, 4- v. rarius 3-meri. Corolla regularis, petalis sepalisque 
valvatis, sæpe connatis. Stamina petalorum numero æqualia, dupla v. indefinita. 
XXX. Entada, Adans. Fam. vol. ii. p. 318; Endl. Gen. n. 6832 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vol. ii. 
p.297. Calyx brevis, cupulzformis, 5-dentatus. Petala 5, lanceolata, cohzrentia v. libera, æstivatione 
valvata. Stamina 10, exserta; filamenta libera; antherze glandula terminate. Ovarium subsessile, 
oc-ovulatum. Stylus filiformis; stigma truncatum. Legumen elongatum, amplum, compressum, 
coriaceum v. lignosum, articulatum, valvis in membranas 2 separabilibus, articulis 1-spermis, a replo 
persistente solutis. Semina orbiculata, crassa, compressa, exarillata.—Frutices scandentes, inermes ; 
foliis 2-pinnatis, rachi sepe in cirrhum producta; floribus dense spicatis, parvis, albis; bracteis 
parvis.— Pursetha, Linn. Zeyl. 644.  Gigalobium, P. Browne, Jam. 362. : ; 
l. E. scandens, Benth. in Hook. Journ. of Bot. vol. iv. p. 332; inermis; foliis cirrhiferis ; 
pinnis 1—2-jugis; foliolis 2—5-jugis ovatis v. oblongo-obovatis obtusis acuminatis emarginatisve, sepius 
obliquis, supra nitidis, subtus glabris puberulisve, spicis elongatis solitariis geminisve longe race- 
mosis.— Mimosa scandens, Linn. Spec. ed. vol. ii. p. 1501; Benth. Fl. Austr. vol. ii. p. 298. Ade- 
` nanthera scandens, Forst. Prodr. n. 117; Icon. (ined.) t. 131. Entada (?) Adenanthera, DC. Prodr. * 
