LEGUMINOSiE 41 



mouth of the hollow receptacle. Stamens ten of various length. 

 The three lower ones have long and curved filaments, their anthers 

 opening by longitudinal slits, the next four stamens have short 

 fihiments and anthers opening by basal pores, the rest have minute 

 anthers without pollen. Fruit a loDg cylindrical indehiscent 

 legume. 



Other common Csesalpiniacese 



are the Gold Mohur tree (Foinciana regia; Kan. Dodda Ratna- 

 gandhi: fig. 45), the Peacock's Crest {Ccesalpinia pulcherrima; 

 Kan. Ratnagandhi), both of which have ten equal stamens, 

 arranged in two whorls. One of the petals, the standard, is un- 

 like the other four. ^Estivation imbricate as in the Papilionacese, 

 but the standard innermost in bud. — Of peculiar interest are 

 the two-lobed leaves of Bauhinia {Kan. Mandara), which at 

 night fold over their midribs. 



C. THE MIMOSA FAMILY (Mimosece). 

 The Babul Acacia [Acacia arabica). 



(Plate No. 628.) 

 (Kan. Karijali. Mai. Karuvelara. Tarn. Karuvel. Tel. Nallatumma. San. Barburah.) 



This well-known tree is essentially a tree of dry regions and 

 is, therefore, be met with more commonly in the interior of India 

 than on the sea-coast. To such places it is ingeniously adapted. 



1. Leaves, with large blades, would allow too active an eva- 

 poration for the thirsty places the Acacia lives in. Their surface 

 is reduced and broken up into numerous linear segments; the 

 leaves are bipinnate (doubly pinnate). They possess also the 

 ability oi folding their leaflets (cf. Bean, pp. 33, 34). They do this 

 not only at night, but also in the daytime when the heat of the 

 sunshine becomes excessive. By placing the leaflets vertically 

 they cause the sun's rays to fall on them in acute angles and so 

 reduce the heating effect of the sunshine and, thereby, check the 

 action of evaporation through their surface. 



2. The Stipules at the base of each leaf are transformed 

 into long, straight thorns which the shrub can employ effectively 



