PERKINS THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 165 



23. POINCIANA L. 



Poinciana L. Sp. PI. 1: 380. 1753. 

 Poincia Neck. Elem. 2: 449. 1790. 

 Delonix Raf. Sylva Tellur. 2: 92. 1836. 



Calyx with a very short turbinate receptacle, sometimes with almost none; seg- 

 ments 5, nearly equal, valvate in estivation; petals 5, round, imbricate, nearly equal, 

 or the posterior one different from the others; stamens 10, free, deflexed; filaments 

 slightly villous at the base, toward the top inflexed; ovary sessile, free, multiovulate; 

 style filiform, stigma terminal, ciliolate, but slightly dilated; legume coriaceous, 

 elongated, compressed, obliquely veined, 2-valved, with tissue between the seeds; 

 seeds compressed, ellipsoidal or oblong, transversely disposed, albuminous. Unarmed 

 trees; leaves bipinnate; leaflets small, numerous; stipules obscure; flowers hand- 

 some, orange or scarlet, corymbose at the ends of the branches; bracts small, caducous; 

 bracteoles wanting. 



1. Poinciana regia Boj.; Hook. 



(Urban, 278.) 



Tree 15 to 20 meters high; leaves 20 to 40 cm. long; pinnae 8 to 20-jugate, multi- 

 foliolate; leaflets oblong, 7 mm. long, 3 mm. wide, blunt at each extremity, upon 

 very short petioles; flowers scarlet; calyx 2.5 cm. long; petals 5.5 cm. long, the claw 

 2 cm. long, the lamina orbicular, 3.5 cm. in diameter; vexillum white with a pinkish 

 tint; legume 12 to 37 cm. long, 3 to 4.5 cm. wide. 



Cultivated and seemingly wild in Fajardo on the public squares; in Cabo Rojo, in 

 the market place; near Mayaguez. Bahama, Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Guade- 

 loupe (Duss), Martinique, Margarita. Native of Madagascar, but cultivated on 

 account of its beauty on the east and west coasts of Africa, in India, and in other 

 parts of the Tropics. 



This magnificent tree, with its bright scarlet flowers and fern-like leaves, is the 

 handsomest of the Caesalpinioideae. Wood white, light, soft, and loose-grained; 

 takes a fine polish. 



Local names, flamboydn, Jlamboydn Colorado. 



24. CAESALPINIA L. 



Caesalpinia L. Sp. PI. 1: 380. 1753. 



Calyx with short or very short receptacle; segments 5, imbricate, the lowermost 

 one concave or boat-shaped and usually larger than the others; petals 5, orbicular, 

 sometimes oblong, spreading, strongly imbricate, subequal or the uppermost one 

 smaller; stamens 10, free, deflexed; filaments usually villous or glandular at the 

 base; ovary sessile, free, the ovules few; style terete, often filiform, sometimes 

 clavate at the top; stigma terminal, truncate or concave; legume ovoid, oblong, 

 lanceolate or falcate, compressed, sometimes with thickened sutures, coriaceous, 

 flat or turgid, sometimes 2-valved, sometimes indehiscent or later slightly 2-valved, 

 often pulpy between the seeds; seeds tranvserse, ovoid or globose, exalbuminous (or 

 albuminous in C. pulcherrima) . Trees or often high-climbing shrubs, unarmed or 

 with scattered prickles; leaves bipinnate; leaflets small and numerous or large and 

 few, membranous or coriaceous; stipules various; flowers yellow or red, often hand- 

 some, in lax simple or panicled racemes, axillary or on the ends of the branches. 

 Bracts wanting. 



a For illustration see Cook and Collins, pi. 54, facing p. 223. 



