14 FLOBIDA VELVET BEAN AND RELATED PLANTS. 



STIZOLOBIUM UTILE. 



Stizolohium utile (Wall.) n. comb. (PI. Ill, B). 

 Mucuna utilis Wall. (Wight, Icones Plantorum Indise Orientalis, 

 1840, vol. 2, p. 280). 



Wight publishes an excellent plate of this plant, which has been 

 reproduced in Bulletin No. 141 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 page 28. The only description given by Wight is as follows: 



Mucuna utilis (Wall. MSS.). The principal difference of this species, if indeed a 

 species, and M. prurita consists in the hairs of its legumes being appressed and almost 

 silky, not erect, rigid, and stinging. In all other respects they sufficiently agree. 

 The flowers in both are purple. The greater size of this is probably attributable to 

 cultivation, in which state only it is known. 



Yoigt (Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis, 1845, p. 235) identifies 

 the plant with "the variety extensively cultivated in the Mauritius 

 and Van Diemen's Land as a table vegetable and also as a fodder 

 for cattle." This plant is the variety with black, shiny seeds com- 

 monly known as Mauritius bean. Yoigt also gives the name "Pois 

 noir de Bourbon." Cordemoy (Flore de Tile de la Reunion, 1895, 

 p. 393) accepts this identification. This author states that the 

 plant on the island of Reunion is known under the name of "Pois 

 mascate." He also gives a detailed description of the plant, which 

 he states was imported into Reunion to serve for breeding purposes, 

 but is now naturalized. We should be inclined to accept this identi- 

 fication if it were not for two facts. First, Wallich's figure indicates 

 more pubescence on the pod than occurs in the Mauritius bean and 

 the pubescence is not closely appressed; secondly, we have obtained 

 from Maj. A. T. Gage, superintendent of the Botanic Garden at 

 Calcutta, seeds of two species of Stizolobium now being grown in 

 the garden at Calcutta. One of these is Stizolobium capitatum, 

 already described; the other is the species which we feel confident 

 is the same plant that Wallich has figured. It is very different 

 from the Mauritius bean in that the pod is densely covered with 

 tawny pubescence which is not appressed. The following is a 

 detailed description: 



Stems stout, growing 30 to 50 feet long, striate and furrowed, pubescent with fine 

 retrorse hairs; leaflets plane, ovate, 5 to 8 inches long, mostly obtuse, mucronate, 

 puberulent on both sides with fine appressed hairs; racemes 9 to 15 inches long; 

 calyx saccate, pubescent without and within, with fine white appressed hairs, the 

 upper lobe triangular, blunt or notched, the lower lobe one-half longer than the lateral 

 lobes; corolla dark purple, 1J inches long, the wings broad ; ovary densely pubescent 

 with white and purple hairs; pods flattened, 3£ to 4| inches long, densely pubescent 

 with short erect or ascending tawny hairs with a few purple ones interspersed; lateral 

 ridge strong, more or less broken, extending nearly the length of the valves; seeds 

 oblong, rather thick, 12 to 14 mm. long, dull black, faintly marked with brown flecks, 

 the veins invisible. 

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