PERKINS THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 141 



Inga vera is used extensively for shade in coffee plantations. (Cook and Collins, 

 p. L67.) The bark of the tree is employed as an astringent, and in Guadaloupe for 

 tanning and dyeing; the sweet pulp is often eaten, and it is also used in catarrhal 

 maladies. 



Local names, guava, guaba. 



2. Inga la\irina (Sw.) Willd. 

 (Urban, 262.) 



Tree 10 to 15 meters high; leaflets 2-jugate, ovate or oval-oblong, obtuse or obtuse- 

 acuminate, coriaceous, glabrous, the largest 7 to 12 cm. long; spikes axillary, elon- 

 gated; flowers white; calyx 1.5 mm. long; corolla 5 to 6 mm. long; legume oblique at 

 the base, 7.5 to 10 cm. long, 2.5 cm. wide. 



In woods near Bayamon; near Juncos on Mount Goyo; Sierra de Yabucoa on Mount 

 Cerro Gordo; near Maunabo, on Mount Mala Pasqua in the town of Utuado; near Cabo 

 Rojo; near Mayaguez. Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix (Eggers), St. John (Eggers), St. 

 Kitts, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia (Benlhami, St. Vincent, 

 Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad (Bentham). 



According to Cook and Collins (p. 167) this species is second in importance only to 

 Inga vera as a shade tree for coffee. 



Local name, guama. 



2. PITHECOLOBIUM Mart. 



Pithecolobium Mart. Flora 20 2 : Beibl. 114. 1837. 



Spiroloba Raf. Sylva Tellur. 119. 1838." 



Cathormion Hassk. Retzia 1: 231. 1855. 

 Flowers 5-merous, seldom 6-merous, hermaphrodite, rarely polygamous; calyx 

 campanulate or tubular, short-dentate; corolla tubular or funnel-shaped, petals con- 

 nate beyond the middle; stamens indefinite, often connate; ovary sessile or stipitate, 

 ovules numerous; legume compressed, circinate, curved, or almost straight, coriace- 

 ous or somewhat fleshy, two-valved, the valves after the dehiscence often twisted, 

 oftener indehiscent or in some species separating into 1-seeded segments; seeds flat, 

 ovate or circular, often imbedded in a fleshy pulp ; funiculus filiform or forming an aril. 

 Trees and shrubs, the majority of which are unarmed, although many have thorny 

 stipules; leaves bipinnate; flowers red or white; inflorescence capitate or spicate, 

 axillary (or sometimes corymbose, racemose, or panicled at the extremities). 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Leaflets glabrous beneath. 



Pinnae 2 to 5-jugate, leaflets 2 to 8-jugate. 1. P. soman. 



Pinnae 8 to 12-jugate, leaflets 20 to 30-jugate. 2. P. arbareum. 



Leaflets pubescent beneath. 3. P. unguis-cati. 



1. Pithecolobium saman (Jacq.) Benth 

 (Urban, 264.) 



A large tree; leaflets oblique, ovate-oblong or suborbiculate, 2 to 5 cm. long, 1.5 to 

 2.5 cm. wide; flowers rose-colored, in a globose head; calyx 8 mm. long; corolla 1.5 

 cm. long; legume 18 to 20 cm. long, 1.25 to 2.50 cm. wide. 



Doubtfully indigenous. Near Bayamon at Catafio; near Manati on the way to 

 Arecibo. Cuba, Jamaica (introduced, Bentham), St. Thomas (introduced, Eggers), 

 St. Croix (do.), Guadeloupe (cultivated), Martinique (cultivated), St. Lucia (Grise- 

 bach), Trinidad I Hart). Native country, Central and South America. 



