authority on tlie flora of .Taniaioa wrote, 2 centuries 

 a^o that this species was introduced there from the 

 continent. 



Otiikr cojurox xasies. — aroma americana 

 (Puerto Rico) ; a]<rarroho ( Vir<rin Islands) ; baya- 

 honda (Dominican Republic); mesquite, guata- 

 pana, cambron, algarrobo del Brasil (Cuba) ; 

 mezquite, catzimec, algarrobo (Mexico) ; nacascol 

 (Guatemala) ; algarrobo (Honduras) ; carbon 

 (El Salvador) ; acacia de Catarina (Nicaragua) ; 



aromo, manca-caballo (Panama) ; trupillo, manca- 

 caballo (Colombia) ; cuji yaque, cuji negro, cuji 

 carora, cuji, yacine (Venezuela) ; mesquite (United 

 States, Bahamas) ; cashaw (Jamaica) ; mesquit- 

 tree (Trinidad) ; bayahon, bayarone (Haiti) ; 

 indju, qui, cuida, kuigi (Dutch West Indies). 



Botanical synonyms. — N el turn a juliftora 

 (Sw.) Raf., Prosopis chilensis auth., not P. cfiilen- 

 •VM' (Mol.) Stuntz. The last is a closely related 

 species of Chile and Argentina to Peru. 



LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE) 

 CASSIA SUBFAMILY (CAESALPINIOIDEAE; CAESALPINIACEAE) 



Key to the 10 species illustrated (Nos. 71-80) 

 A. Leaves simple or of 2 leaflets. 



B. Leaves simple, with 2 rduiided lobes at aiiex — 71. liatihiiiia monandra* 

 BB. Leaves of 2 leaflets, paired, long- or short-pointed at apex — 76. Hymcnaea courharil. 

 AA. Leaves compound, of several to many leaflets. 

 C. Leaves once pinnate. 



D. Leaflets mostly more than 2 inches long, ovate and broadest toward base. 



E. Leaflets with short, green stalks %-% inch long, without black dots — 72. Cassia fistula* 



EE. Leaflets with very short, red stalks Vie i^ch long, with scattered raised black dots on lower surface — 

 79. Stahlia monospcrma. 

 DD. Leaflets less than 2 inches long, mostly oblong, with edges nearly parallel. 



F. Leaflets symmetrical. 



G. Leaflets .short-pointed or rounded at apex — 73. Cassia javanica* 

 GG. Leaflets rounded with bristle-tip at apex — 74. Cassia siamea.* 

 FF. Leaflets oblique at base and slightly asymmetrical — 80. Tamarindus indica* 

 CC. Leaves bipinnate. 



H. Leaves consisting of a spine and 1 or 2 pairs of dnwping yellow-green strips (lateral axes) % inch broad 

 bearing numerous small leaflets %-%6 inch long, which shed early — 77. Parkinsonia acnleata* 

 HH. Leaves regularly branched, not spiny, with 10-30 pairs of lateral axes (pinnae), each with numerous 

 leaflets and featherlike. 

 I. Leaflets less than % inch long ; young twigs and leaf axes greenish, finely hairy — 75. Delonix regia* 

 II. Leaflets M>-% inch long ; young twigs and leaf axes with dense coat of reddish-brown hairs — ^78. 

 Peltophorum inermc* 



Bauhinia monandra Kurz* 



71. Mariposa, butterfly bauhinia 



This cultivated ornamental small tree is easily 

 recognized by: (1) the odd, somewhat rounded 

 leaves divided about Vs their length into 2 rounded 

 lobes slightly suggesting a cow's hoof and with 13 

 or 11 radiating main veins from the heart-shaped 

 base; (2) the very large and showy flowers 214-3 

 inches across, with 5 slender-stalked, narrow, 

 spoon-shaped pink petals dotted with red (1 petal 

 mostly red) ; and (3) the flat pods about 8 inches 

 long, 1 inch broad, and i/g inch thick, with a long 

 narrow point at apex, twisting as they split open. 



A small evergreen tree or sometimes a slirub 

 growing 10-30 feet high and to 1 foot in trunk 

 diameter. The branches are widely spreading. 

 Bark of small trunks is smootli with dots (lenti- 

 cels) and whitish gray. Inner bark is whitish and 

 tasteless. Young twigs are finely hairy. 



The alternate leaves have long hairy petioles 

 1-2 inches long. I^eaf blades are mostly 2-4 inches 

 long and 2— ii/^ inches broad or sometimes larger, 

 with the edges not toothed and a short bristle Vs 

 inch long between the 2 lobes, very thin, the upper 

 surface light green and hairless, and the lower sur- 

 face pale gray green and finely hairy. 



Flower clusters (racemes) are terminal and un- 

 branched, with few male and bisexual flowers on 



green hairy stalks about 14 inch long (polyga- 

 mous). The very narrow, tubular, stalklike, mi- 

 nutely hairy basal tube (hypanthium) is I-I14 

 inches long and only Yg inch broad; the calyx is 

 %-l inch long, pointecl in bud, finely hairy, split- 

 ting along 1 side as the flower opens; the 5 un- 

 equal petals are 1^4-2 inches long; only 1 slender 

 stamen I14 inches long and sterile stamens (stam- 

 inodes) i-educed to scales about I/8 iricli long; 

 and the very slender pistil with stalk about 1 inch 

 long adhering to tube and lyo inches long beyond, 

 witli a hairy 1-celled ovary and long curved style; 

 in male flowers the pistil is rudimentary. 



The pods split open with force, twisting into 2 

 parts and scattering the many seeds. The shiny 

 black seeds are elliptic, flat, and % inch long. 

 Flowering and fruiting nearly through the year. 



The sapwood is whitish and hard, and the heart- 

 wood recorded as brown. Wood used only for 

 fuel in Puerto K ico. One use reported in Jamaica 

 is as a roadside "''once plant : after pollarding, the 

 long pliable branches are arranged into the frame- 

 work of a fence. 



Planted in Puerto Rico for the large ornamen- 

 tal flowers suggestive of orchids or butterflies and 

 the odd-shaped leaves. Escaped from cultivation 



168 



