NAT. ORUEU 



Le gummosa. 



POINCIANA PULCHERRIMA. CHINA POINCINANA. 



Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Calyx, sejmls five, unequal. Petals, five, stipitate 

 and Jefi)rmed. Stamens, ten, longer than the petals. 



Spe. Char. Leajiets prickly, ovate or obovate, notched at the end, 

 smooth. Petals fimbricate, longly, stipitate. 



Sepals are five in number, unequal, joined at the base into a 

 somewhat persistent cup, the lower one arched ; the ^^e/«/s are five, 

 stipitate, having the u^apcr one of a different form ; the stamens 

 are ten, very long, all bearing anthers, filaments hairy at the base ; 

 s^y/e very long; legume flatly compressed, two-valved, somewhat 

 many-celled, with spongy isthmuses ; the seerf* are obovate, com- 

 pressed, having the internal integument in a gelatinous water; 

 cotyledons, flat and oval ; the leaves are abruptly bipinnate ; the 

 Jlowcrs are disposed in a corymbose panicle; pedicels long, without 

 bracteas at the base. 



This most magnificent shrub grows to the height of ten feet 

 and upwards ; and as the plate shows, bears panicles of the most 

 brilliant flowers. It is a native of the East Indies. Sigou states 

 that it was imjjorted into Barbadoes from the Cape de Verd Island. 

 Its beauty has attracted the attention of the Chinese for some time, 

 and wherever they settle, they cultivate it as the crown of all 

 garden ornaments, and call it by the name of the peacock's crest. 

 It was introduced into Holland from Amboyna about the year 1670, 

 where it was extensively cultivated in the Chelsea Garden by Sir 

 Hans Sloane, in the year 1691. The flowers are most beautiful to 



Vol. ii.— 43 



