NOTES ON MIMOSE, 319 
foliolorum paria suprema. In omnibus tamen Filicinis, et 
rarius in Gummiferis Botrycephalisve paucis, glandulæ desunt. 
Spine adsunt stipulares in Gummiferis omnibus, necnon in 
Phyllodineis nonnullis; axillares in Pulchellis quibusdam et 
in A. bifurca. Rami etiam interdum spinescunt. Aculei 
in Vulgaribus plerisque obvii. Stipule si non spinescunt, 
seepius minime sunt v. obsolete, rarius membranacee, ample. 
Flores parvi, capitati v. spicati, nunc densissime imbricati 
sessiles, bracteolis seepe stipitatis lamina peltata v. ovata, nunc 
pedicellati subumbellati, nunc interrupte spicati. Calyx 
sepius corolle dimidium subeequans, rarius brevissimus, in 
A. squamata tamen et calyx et corolla desunt. Stamina 
scpius 50 ad 400, brevia v. rarissime semipollicem eequantia, 
seepissime flava v. aurantiaca, in Filicinis alba. Ovarium in 
Vulgaribus stipitatum, in ceteris seriebus sessile. Legumen 
sæpius siccum, compressum, bivalve, subcoriaceum ; occurrit 
tamen teres, v. variis modis difforme, membranaceum, lig- 
nosum v. rarius subcarnosum, indehiscens, v. rarius elastice 
ut in Calliandris dehiscens; intus sepius uniloculare est, 
continuum et epulposum, in PAyllodinearum tamen et Gummi- 
Jerarum speciebus quibusdam observatur transverse septatum, 
farctum, v. tenuiter pulposum. Semina transversa, rarius 
longitudinalia, appensa funiculo filiformi juxta semen sepe 
plus minusve in strophiolam dilatato. 
two-valved pod has been the character hitherto 
chiefly relied upon for the distinction of this extensive genus ; 
but this has not only the great inconvenience that there are 
but few cases where the ripe pod can be observed, but also it 
is often even then very uncertain, and not at all consonant 
with general habit and other characters. Many species, pre- 
cisely similar in almost every other respect, have very diffe- 
rent pods, and the same pod may be found in two Mimosee 
having scarcely any other point in common. I have, there- 
fore, thought it better to derive the principal character from 
the flower, and by excluding all species with definite stamens, 
or with the filaments connected in a cylindrical tube, it has 
appeared to me that the genus Acacia becomes more natural 
