fabace;e, or leguminos^e. 



Leaflets 8-9 pairs, elliptical-oblong. Flowers appearing before the 

 leaves. — The violet flowers are reckoned poisonous. Schombargh in 

 Linncea, ix. 512. 



AGATI. 



Calyx campanulate, slightly 2-lipped ; upper lip with 2, under 

 with 3 short obtuse broad teeth. Corolla papilionaceous. Vex- 

 illum oval, oblong, shorter than the oblong alas : keel large, fal- 

 cate, obtusely acuminated, its petals free at the base and apex. 

 Stamens diadelphous (9 and 1), slightly protruded : sheath with 

 large auricles at the base. Style filiform. Legume attenuated 

 at the base into a stalk, linear, elongated, a little compressed, 

 many-seeded, much contracted between the seeds, but not 

 jointed. Seeds separated by cellular partitions. TV. and A. 



507. A. grandifiora Desv. journ. hot. iii. 120. DC. prodr. 

 ii. 266. TV. and A. i. 215. — iEschynomene grandifiora Linn. 

 sp.pl. 1050. Coronilla grandifiora Willd. iii. 1145. Sesbana 

 grandifiora Pers. syn. ii. 316. (Rheede i. t. 51. Rumph. i. t. 76). 

 — Common in all the hot parts of India. 



A small tree of rapid growth and short duration. Stipules lanceolate. 

 Leaves abruptly pinnated ; leaflets many pairs. Racemes axillary, 2-4- 

 flowered. Flowers very large. Legumes pendulous, upwards of a foot 

 long. — Bark powerfully bitter and tonic. 



PISCIDIA. 

 Calyx campanulate, 5-fid. Keel obtuse. Stamens monadel- 

 phous, with the tenth free at the base. Style filiform, smooth. 

 Legume stipitate, linear, furnished with 4 longitudinal membra- 

 nous wings, interrupted by contractions between the seeds. 

 Seeds oval, compressed : hilum lateral ; embryo curved ; radicle 

 bent down upon the cotyledons. 



508. P. Erythrina Linn. sp. 993. Jacq. amer. 206. Swartz. 

 obs. 277. HBK. vi. 382. DC. prodr. ii. 267. Macfady.jam. 

 i. 258. — Erythrina piscipula Linn. sp. ed. 1. 107. (Sloane ii. 

 t. 176. f. 4 and 5. Lam. illustr. t. 605. f. A.) — Spanish Main, 

 West Indies, common. (Jamaica Dogwood.) 



A tree about 20 feet high. Leaflets 3-4 pairs, with an odd one, 

 oblong or obovate, rounded at the base, downy on both sides when 

 young, but smooth when old. Racemes compound, axillary and ter- 

 minal, with a 3-cornered downy stalk. Flowers whitish, tinged with 

 purple, a little earlier than the leaves, with 2 oblong scarious deci- 

 duous bracts about the middle of each stalk. Calyx minutely 

 downy. Vexilhun emarginate, greenish in the middle. Stipe of the 

 legume much longer than the calyx ; its wings undulated and irregularly 

 lacerated. — Tincture of the bark most powerfully and remarkably nar- 

 cotic and diaphoretic. A specific in the removal of pain produced by 

 carious teeth. Bark astringent and irritating. See Dr. Hamilton in 

 Burnett's outlines p. 684 for an account of this very energetic plant; 

 the bark of whose root is a common fish-poison in Jamaica. 



246 



