328 CALYCI FLORAE. 



iiated; flowers yellow — Named by Plumier, in honour of An- 

 dreas Csesalpinus, author of several botanical works, and phy- 

 sician to Pope Clement VIII. 



1. Ceesalpinia Brasiliensis. BrasileUo-TVood. 

 Unarmed, pinnae ^-paired, leaflets 7-8-paired, ellip- 

 tic or oval obtuse subglabrous, rachises and calices 

 pubescent, racemes simple or subpanicled, pedicels 

 rather shorter than the flowers, and stamens than the 

 corolla. Legumes thin piano-compressed. 



C. arborea inermis, foliis minoribus, paribus bipinnatis, ligno 

 kermesino, Browne, Jam. 227. — C. Brasiliensis, Sicartz, Obs. 

 166 De Cand. Prod. II. 482. 



HAB. Common in dry limestone districts. 



FL. January. 



A tree, seldom more than 15 feet in height, with spreading 

 unarmed branches. Leaves bi-pinnate : pinnse 4-paired : leaf- 

 lets 7-8-paired, sub-opposite, shortly petiolulated, oval, obtuse 

 at the apex, shining and minutely puberulous above, ciliated, 

 puberulous beneath, especially along the mid nerve, 1-1^ inch 

 in length : common petiole subterete, pubescent. Racemes 

 sometimes axillary, solitary, simple ; at other times crowded 

 into a sort of panicle at the ends of the branches, many-flower- 

 ed : rachis angulose, pubescent : pedicels short (about 3 lines in 

 length), puberulous : flowers small, yellow. Calyx externally 

 puberulous, 5-fid ; 4 of the segments subequal, oval, blunt, 

 crisped, lacerato-fimbriated ; the 5th and lowest segment large, 

 roundish, concave, crisped, pectinated. Petals, 4 of them sub- 

 equal, clawed, oblong, puberulous towards the claw ; the 5th 

 without a claw, broad at the base, rounded, concave at the 

 apex so as to be somewhat hooded, ciliated, puberulous. Sta- 

 mens 10, subequal : filaments subulate, hairy towards the base: 

 anthers oblong, yellow. Ovary oblong, villous ; style short: 

 stigma simple. Legume 2i inches long and nearly one broad, 

 thin, samaroid, leaf like, slightly inflated at the situation of the 

 seeds, linear, acuminate at the base, obtuse at the apex, glab- 

 rous, 4-seeded : seeds ovoid, compressed. 



De Candolle has described the legumes of this species as 

 one- seeded. The wood of this tree, according to Browne, is 

 very hard, of an orange tinge, and takes a fine polish ; it is full 

 of resin, and gives, on infusion, a fine full tincture. It is much 

 used for ornamental purposes in cabinet- making, and it is con- 

 sidered to be peculiarly well adapted for making the spokes of 

 the wheels of carriages, I am not aware that it is at present 

 ever cut down for exportation as a dye-wood. The best Brazil 

 wood for dyeing is s^id to be produced by the C. echinata, a 

 native of Brazil. 



