PERKINS THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 203 



2. Erythrina corallodendron L. 

 (Urban, 302.) 



Shrub 3 to 4 meters high, climbing, or tree 3 to 6 meters high, armed; leaflets broadly 

 ovate-rhomboid, 1 to 1.5 cm. wide, 5 to 14.5 cm. long; flowers in axillary racemes 12 

 m 35 cm. long, coral-colored; standard 5 to 6.5 cm. long; calyx 8.5 to 10 mm. long, 

 a little exceeded by the wings; pod 10 cm. long, 1 cm. wide. 



Near Bayamon, in calcareous mountains; near Sabana Grande, in thickets on the 

 rocky banks of Estero River near the cataract; near Afiasco; near Rincon, in thickets 

 on the shore at Cabo San Francisco. Bermuda (introduced, Hemsley), Cuba, Jamaica 

 (in the form grandi flora), Cayman (Hitchcock), St. Thomas (Eggers), St. Croix (do.), 

 St. John, St. Bartholomew ( Wikstroni), St. Kitts (Euphrasen), Antigua (Grisebach), 

 Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago (in the form grandiflora), 

 Mexico. Tropical America. 



Erythrina corallodendron on account of the size of its flowers is a very noticeable tree. 

 It differs from E. micropteryx in having a short keel and red seeds. The three Ery- 

 thrina species of Porto Rico are at first armed, later they become glabrous. 



From the soft, corky wood of E. corallodendron, coral wood, arbol madre of the Mexi- 

 cans, are manufactured corks, light ladders, etc. 



Local name, bucare. 



3. Erythrina micropteryx Poepp. 



(Urban, 301.) 



Tree 15 to 20 meters high, armed; leaflets 11 to 16 cm. long, 7 to 12 cm. wide, orbicular- 

 oval, obtuse or abruptly acuminate; flowers in racemes, bright red; calyx 6 mm. 

 deep; standard elliptical or narrowly oval, 3.5 to 4.2 cm. long; wings twice as long as 

 the calyx, obovate or oval-elliptical; keel a little shorter than the standard, bidentate; 

 pod 7 to 13 cm. long, chartaceous; seeds dark brown. 



Cultivated for shading coffee plantations and seemingly wild near Bayamon; near 

 Cayey, at Quebrada Arriba; near Adjuntas, on Mount Capaes; near Utuado, at Salto 

 Arriba; near Lares, at Mirasol and at Espino; near Quebradillas and near Toa Alta. 

 Cuba, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Trinidad. Indigenous in Peru. 



The long keel of E. micropteryx makes it easy to distinguish from the other Potto 

 Rican species; the brown seeds, from E. corallodendron. 



Local names, bucare, palo de boyo; Cuba, penon de Cuba (Eggers); Guadeloupe, 

 iinmortel jaune (Duss); Martinique, 'eryihrine de cayenne (Hahn); Peru, a'ma-sisa 

 (Spruce). 



56. RTJDOLPHTA Willd. 



Rudolphia Willd. Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berlin Neue Schrift 3: 451. 1801. 



Calyx tubuliform, the 2 upper segments connate or subconnate, the 2 lateral much 

 smaller, the lowest one cuspidate and slightly arcuate; standard oblong, plicate; the 

 wings and the free petals of the keel narrow and much shorter than the standard; 

 upper stamen free; ovary stipitate or sessile; style more or less dilated in the middle; 

 stigma terminal, subcapitate; pod elongated, flat, tipped with the persistent base of 

 the style, 2-valved; valves finally tortuose, pulpy within; seeds flat, obovate. Twin- 

 ing undershrubs or herbs; leaves with one leaflet; flowers elongated, purple, red, or 

 flesh-colored, in axillary racemes or fasciculate on the rachis; bracts and Lracteoles 

 small and caducous. 



