M.Vlir. I.i;(,LMINt).S.E. 419 



Abuml.iut Lliriiuglioul llin I'l-esidoiicy iu llio rains, cejK'oiully aiiiuiig rubljisli nc;u" 

 villages.— DisTKi II. Tlirouglioiit Indinaiul tlio Tropics generally. 



Tlie leaves, root.s, and seeds are used medicinally, the latter also in Africa as a 

 substitute for coilee. See Watt, Diet. Ecun. Prud. 1. c. 



n. Cassia Sophera, Linn. S/>. PL (1753) p. 379. A shrub or 

 uiulershnil) S-K) t'(. high, aiuiuul or perennial. Leaves 7-9 in. long; 

 rliaehis grooved, glabrous or nearly so, with a solitary conical gland near 

 the base. Leaflets G-lO pairs H-2J by h-^ in., opposite, membranous, 

 glaucous, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, glabrous, base usually rounded ; 

 luaia nerves 10-12 pairs ; petiolules y'iV""TV ''^* ^^ng, glabrous. Flowers 

 ill axillary, short, few-llowered, corymbose racemes ; pedicels \ in. (in 

 fruit reaching h in.) long, pubescent ; bracts i in. long, green, ovate, 

 acute, caducous. Calyx \ in. long, divided to the base; segments 

 membranous, obtuse, green. Petals 5, subequal, h in. long, ovate, obtuse, 

 yellow. Stamens 10, of wbich the 3 upper are reduced to staminodes, 

 the remaining 7 usually perfect, the 3 lower longer and witb larger 

 anthers tlian the -1 lateral ones, of which one is sometimes reduced to a 

 staminode. Pods 3-4 by f in. and about i in. tbick, slightly recurved, 

 somewhat turgid, septate between the seeds, not or scarcely torulose. 

 Seeds 30-40, broadly ovoid, acute, compressed, d:irk-brown, \ by -J- in. 

 n. B. I. V. 2, p. 202 ; Grab. Cat. p. 02 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 81 ; Benth. 

 in Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 27 (1871) p. 532 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 2, p. 105 ; 

 AV'oodr. in Journ. Bomb. JS'at. v. 11 (1898) p. 427 ; A¥att, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. V. 2, p. 223. — Flov\ers: Xov.-Jan. Yekx. Janr/li-tdklu; Mdn- 

 iiiUci. 



A common weed in nncultivated places throiiglioiit the rains.— Distrib. Throughout 

 India and in most Tropical countries. 



The bark, leaves, and seeds aie uted medicinally. See Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. c. 



4. Cassia nigricans, Vahl, S>/mb. v. 1 (1790) p. 30. A shrub or 

 nndershrub 5 ft. high ; young branches pubescent. Leaves 2-4 in. long ; 

 rhachis hairy ; petioles i in. long, hairy, furnished with an obscure 

 sessile gland below the lowest pair of leaflets ; stipules i in. long, 

 triangular, acute, hairy, nerved, closely appressed to the stem. Leaflets 

 sessile, 8-18 pairs, ^-1 by ^-j\ in., linear-oblong, obtuse, mucronate, 

 unequal-sided, hairy on both sides. Flowers i-^ in. across, solitary or 

 2-5 together, supra-axillary; pedicels short, bractcjlate. Calvx divided 

 to the base, villous, I in. long ; segments oblong-lanceolate. I'etals 

 yellowish-red, scarcely exserted, the upper the smallest. Stamens 10, 

 all perfect or 1-3 rudimentary, the 31ovsest the largest ; fihiments short. 

 Ovary sessile, densely villous ; style short, hooked. Pods |-li by 

 8-fV i"-' linear-oblong, straight, compressed, marked with transverse 

 oblique lines between the seeds, clothed with appressed hairs. Seeds 

 G-11, trapezoid-O'. old, compressed, brown, shining. Benth. in Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. v. 27 (1871) p. 577 ; Prain, in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. v. 66 

 (1898) p. 477. 6'. Anwttiana, AVight, MS. in Herb. Kew (1835) n. 2410. 

 C. mkranlha, Guili. & Perr. Fl. Senegamb. (1830-33) p. 2Q-2. — Flowers : 

 JS'oY.-Dec. 



Eare, apparently confined in the Bombay Presidency to N. Kanara. Kanar\ : 

 Hohenhacker, 7ilO ! ; Kumpta on the coast of Kanara, Talbot, 72l ; N. Kanara, Wo(X>-, 

 Wocdrow (file Prain).— Distkib. India (W. Peninsula) ; Tropical Africa. 



