138 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. LEGUMINOSZ. 
a satiny surface, the layers of annual growth being hardly distinguishable. It is very dark rich reddish 
brown slightly tinged with purple, with thin clear bright yellow sapwood. The specific gravity of the 
absolutely dry wood is 1.0386, a cubic foot weighing 64.72 pounds.’ It is highly prized by cabinet- 
makers, and for fuel is considered more valuable than the wood of any other tree of the Rio Grande 
valley. It is almost indestructible in contact with the ground, and is therefore largely used for fence- 
posts. 
The seeds are palatable and nutritious if boiled when green, and are roasted when ripe by the 
Mexicans, who use their thick coat as a substitute for coffee.” 
Pithecolobium flexicaule was discovered by Jean Louis Berlandier in the neighborhood of Mata- 
moras in 1830. With the exception, perhaps, of Lewcena pulverulenta and of Acacia Farnesiana, 
it is the most beautiful of the Mimosa-like trees which grow naturally within the territory of the United 
States. It is compact in habit; its foliage is luxuriant, dark, and lustrous; the flowers, which are 
produced during a long period of every year, are abundant, beautiful, and fragrant, and the fruit is 
large and of striking appearance. Pithecolobium flexicaule might well be introduced into the gardens 
of many temperate countries, and although it grows slowly and does not attain a great size, it may 
prove worthy of the attention of planters as a timber-tree. 
1 Garden and Forest, iii. 344. 2 Havard, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. viii. 499. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
Puare CXLVII. PireEcoLtopruM FLEXICAULE. 
1. A flowering branch, natural size. 
2. A flower, enlarged. 
2°. A flower, the calyx and corolla removed, enlarged. 
. A pistil, enlarged. 
. A fruiting branch, natural size. 
. Vertical section of a portion of a legume, natural size. 
An embryo, natural size. 
IND oP ww 
. Vertical section of a seed, natural size. 
