STIZOLOBIUM HASSJOO. 17 



Watt also states that the vernacular names in use in Bengal are 

 "Khamach" and "Alkushi." Firminger (Manual of Gardening for 

 India, p. 133) says: "To me the beans seem to partake rather of the 

 agreeable flavor of the Lima bean, and afford a very nice dish during 

 the latter end of the rain season." Baker in Hooker (Flora of British 

 India, vol. 2, p. 188) quotes Mucuna nigra Ham. (in Wall. Cat. 

 5617) as a synonym, but neither description nor citation accompanies 

 the publication of that name. 



The Lyon bean has now been cultivated in Florida and other 

 Southern States for three years. It requires about the same length 

 of time to mature as the Florida velvet bean, or is perhaps slightly 

 earlier. It is, however, much more prolific in seed production and 

 is therefore likely to come into prominent use. Besides its greater 

 productivity it has the advantage over the Florida velvet bean 

 of being wholly devoid of stinging hairs. The leaf surface, unlike 

 any other species known to us, is decidedly undulate, so that the 

 plant can readily be recognized even before it blooms. The vine 

 is fully as ornamental as the Florida velvet bean and should become 

 a popular arbor plant, especially if the seeds are as edible as indicated 

 by Roxburgh and others. 



Prof. P. H. Rolfs, of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 and five other persons tested the edibility of the seeds prepared as 

 baked beans. While they were found to be very palatable, they caused 

 both purging and vomiting. Three of the persons who ate about 

 half as much of the dish as they would of ordinary baked beans were 

 thus affected. The other three who ate of them very sparingly 

 suffered no ill effects. 



The pods and seeds of this species are well represented in Plate 

 IV, A. The flower clusters are longer than in any other species. 



STIZOLOBIUM HASSJOO. 



Stizolobium hassjoo n. sp. Yokohama bean. (PI. V, B.) 



Vines slender, 6 to 20 feet long, sparsely pubescent with retrorse white hairs; leaflets 

 ovate, acutish, abruptly mucronate, rather thick and firm in texture, plane, 4 to 5 

 inches long, sparsely pubescent on each face with white appressed hairs; racemes 4 

 to 6 inches long; flowers dark purple; calyx saccate, the lower lobe one-half longer 

 than the lateral ones, densely appressed-pubescent without and within; corolla 1£ 

 inches long; pods 4 to U inches long, 5 to 6 seeded, covered with rather long white 

 appressed pubescence; median ridge prominent, the secondaries faint or wanting; 

 seeds ash colored, often blackish at the ends, oblong, flattened, 15 to 18 mm. long, the 

 veins of the testa very obscure. 



This is S. P. I. No. 25254, obtained from the Yokohama Nursery 

 Company, Yokohama, Japan, who state that this plant is widely 

 grown in Hokkaido or Yezo, the north island of Japan. In the 

 "Useful Plants of Japan," 1895, page 9, where it is erroneously iden- 



179 



