476 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES. 



RoBiNiA EHRENBERGii Schleclit. Liiinaea 12: 303. 1838. Type from Aguas- 

 calientes, near Granada. Probably a species of Lonchocarpus. 



RoBiNiA MELANOCARPA Sclik'cht. Linnaea 12: 305. 1838. Type from Papantla, 

 Veracruz. Probably a Lonchocarpus. 



19. DAUBENTONIA DC. Mem. Legum. 285. 1S25. 

 1. Daubentonia cavanillesii (S. Wats.) Standi. 



? Acschiinoiiicnc ]unyifoUa Cav. Ic-uu. PI. 4: 8. pi. 316. 1797. 



IScsban cavanillesii S. Wats. Proc Amer. Acad. 17: 342. 1882. 



San Luis Potosl. Southern United States. 



Shrub 1 to 2 meters high ; leaves odd-pinnate, the leaflets numerous, pale, 

 narrowly oblong, 1 to 2.5 cm. long, obtuse; flowers yellow. 1.5 to 2 cm. long, 

 racemose ; fruit with 4 longitudinal wings. 



The seeds are said to have been used in the southern United States as a 

 substitute for coffee. 



20. SESBAN Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 327. 1763. 

 Unarmed shrubs or small trees or often herbs; leaves pinnate, the leaflets 

 numerous, small; flowers racemose, large and sho\ty ; fruit linear, compressed, 

 4 angled, or subterete. often very long. 



Corolla 6 to 7 cm. long. Leaflets oblong or oval 1. S. grandiflora. 



Corolla 2.5 cm. long or shorter. 



Leaflets lanceolate to elliptic, acute ; fruit stipitate, 8 mm. wide. 



2. S. mexicana. 

 Leaflets oblong or oval, rounded at the apex ; fruit sessile, 3 to 4 mm. wide. 



3. S. macrocarpa. 



1. Sesban grandiflora (L.) Pers. Syn. PL 2: 316. 1807. 

 Aeschynomcne grandiflora L. Sp. PI. etl. 2. 1060. 1763. 



Agati grandifloi'a Desv. Journ. de Bot. Desv. 1 : 120. 1813. i 



Adventive in Yucatan and sometimes cultivated for ornament. Native prob- 

 ably of the East Indies ; adventive in tropical America. 



Nearly glabrous shrub or small tree, sometimes 4.5 meters high ; leaflets 

 about 3 em. long ; flowers very large, white or pink, pendulous ; fruit 30 to 35 

 cm. long. "Pico de flamingo" (Yucatan); " cobreque " (Nicaragua); " ga- 

 Uito," " baculo," or " ci*esta de gallo " (Porto Rico). 



The wood is soft, weak, and light. From incisions in the stem there runs a 

 pinkish white juice, which dries into vitreous tears of a violet tint. From these 

 is obtained a gum from which two coloring principles have been separated — a 

 red one, agathino, and a yellow one, xanthoagathine. The bitter bark is said to 

 have tonic and febrifuge properties ; in India it has been employed as a remedy 

 for smallpox. Diuretic and laxative properties are ascribed to the leaves. In 

 southern Asia the flowers and green pods are eaten as a salad or pot herb, and 

 the leaves and young shoots are gathered and fed to cattle. For an illustration 

 of the plant see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 9: pi. 6. 



2. Sesban mexicana Pollard. Bull. Torrey Club 24: 1,54. 1897. 

 Aeschynotntnic loufiifolhi Orteg. Hort. Matr. Dec. 9: 70. 1800. Not -4. longi- 



folia Cav. 1797. 

 Sesban longifolia DC. IModr. 2: 265. 1826. 

 Jalisco. 



Low shrub ; leaflets 1.5 to 3.5 cm. long, bright green ; fruit 6.5 to 12.5 cm. 

 long, conspicuously torulose. 



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