414 Xl.Vill. LIXiV.MIXOS.E. 



the shortcsf, obovate or orbicular, inibricaie. Stameus 10, free, decli- 

 nate, usually exsertecl ; anthers uniform. Ovary sessile or shortly 

 stalked; ovules few or many; style filitorm; sligma small, capitate. 

 Pod oblong, flat, thin, indehiscent, broadly winged along the \ipper 

 suture. Seeds transverse, compressed, orbicular or reniform ; cotyledons 

 flat ; radicle short, straight. — DiSTiau. Tropics of the eastern hcmi- . 

 sphere ; species 15. 



1. Mezoneurum cucullatum, Wi<iJd i^ Anu Pro<J)•.{^S^■i)]).2^'.^. 

 A large climber ; branches glabrous, armed with small dark sharp recurved 

 prickles. Leaves G-ll! in. long; pimiie 2-5 pairs, 5-S in. long, the 

 rhachis slender, armed with small recurved prickles. Leatlets 4-5 pairs, 

 2-134 by 1-H in., oppoi'ite or less commonly alternate, ovate, acute, 

 glabrou.", dark green and shining above, i)ahr beneath, base rounded, 

 slightly oblique; petiolules stout, ^-^ in. long, l-'lowers in terminal 

 and axillary panicles of simple or sometimes branched rigid racemes ; 

 main rhachis terete, glabrous ; pedicels ^—^ in. long, slender, jointed 

 above the middle. Calyx | in. long, yellow, deeply cleft, glabrous, 

 leathery, the lowest sepal cucuUate, obtuse, ^ in. long, the other sepals 

 smaller, oblong, rounded at the apex ; the tube shallow. Corolla nearly 

 ^, in. across, greenish-yellow, the upper petal 2-lobed, shorter but wider 

 fhan the others. Stamens much exserted ; filaments pubescent at the 

 base. Ovary shortly stalked; ovules 1-2. Pods thin, 3-;i| by 1^ in. 

 (excluding the wing which is ^-g in. broad), glabrous, faintly reticulately 

 veined. »Seed 1 (rarely 2) in the middle of the pod. PI. B. I. v. 2, 

 p. 258 ; Grab. Cat. p. 01 ; Dalz & Gibs. p. 80 : Tail). Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, 

 p. 142; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Kat. v. 11 (1808) j). 427. — Plowers : 

 Dec.-Mar. A^'kiin. JicKji. 



IConkan: Sfoc/,-sl; higher Ghals, common, DnheU <j- Gihson : moist evergreen 

 forests, Tulhuf ; Matlieraii, CooU'l 1)k(c.\n: Lanoli, W'uodrov, (.irahdm ; Kliaiuliila, 

 (irahum; ravines abont 1 ar, (jrahutn. Kanaka: aliuiidant in evergreen forests in 

 llie fxlrcme south of N. Koiilvan, Talhol. — DitLTUus. liic.ia (E. Himalayas, Echaj-, 

 W. rcninsiila) ; Irdo-L'hiiia, i\lala_)a. 



(i2. POINCIANA, Linu. 



Unarmed trees. JiOaves 2-pinnat.e ; stipules inconsjncuous. Leatlets 

 numerous, small, exstipellate. 1' lowers handsouje, in coryndjose racemes; 

 bracts small, very caducous ; bracteoles 0. Calyx deeply cleft ; tube 

 short; segments valvate, suhequal. Petals 5, orbicular, imbiicate, sub- 

 equal, the blade crisply fin)briate. Stamens 10, free, declinate, much 

 exserted; filaments villous at the base; anthers uniform. Ovary sub- 

 sessile ; ovules many; style iiliform or ahbreviated, slightly chivate at 

 the apex ; stigma truncate, ciliolare. Pod elongate, Hat, thin, dehiscent, 

 the sutures neither thickened nor winged. Seeds transverse, oblong, 

 albuminous ; cotyledons rather thick ; radicle short, straight, exserted. 

 — Disrniu. Tropical Asia and Africa ; species 3. 



1. Poinciana data, Linn. Cent. Fl. ii. (1756) p. 16; Amcen. Acad. 

 V. 4, p. 313. An erect tree, 20-30 ft. high ; bark tolerably smooth, 

 ash-colored. Leaves abruptly 2-pinnate, 4-8 in. long; main rhachis 

 slender; pinnae 4-8 yjairs, opposite. I-eaflets 10-20 pairs, subsessile, 

 \ by \ in., closely set along the rhachis, linear-oblong, rounded and usually 



