238 xlvii. § papilionace-E (baker). [Pterocarpus. 



Pods distinctly stalked, with a wing at least as broad as the 

 disk. 

 Style slightly oblique. 



Flowers in lax racemes ; pedicels 4-6 lines long .... 3. P. lucens. 

 Flowers in ample panicles ; pedicels 2-3 lines long . . . 4. P. melliferus. 

 Style so much deflexed that it is nearly parallel with the 

 pedicel. 



Disk of pod naked 5. P. tinctorius. 



Disk of pod densely muricated with fragile spines . . . 6. P. erinaceus. 



1. P. simplicifolius, Baker. A small tree with woody terete 

 glabrous branches. Petioles firm, glabrous, J-f in. long* ; leaves 

 simple, broad-ovate or roundish, 2-2J in. long, blunt or subacute, 

 coriaceous, rigid, glabrous, glaucous-green, the veins slightly raised. 

 Flowers in 6-12-flowered lax axillary racemes, the peduncle and rachis 

 each an inch long ; the pedicels spreading 4-5 lines long, glabrous. 

 Calyx turbinate, glabrous, 2-2 J lines deep, the teeth very short, deltoid. 

 Corolla pale yellow, J-f in. deep, the upper stamen free. Pod broad- 

 oblong, lj-lf in. long, 1-1J in. broad, tapering at the base to a short 

 stalk, the^centre slightly raised, the faces glabrous and glaucous, the 

 wing rigid, 4-6 lines broad, the veins slightly raised, the style slightly 

 oblique. 



Upper Guinea. Nupe, Barter I 



Closely resembles P. lueens in everything except its simple leaves. 



2. P. esculentus, Schum. et Thonn. PI. Guin. 330. An erect tree 

 25-30 ft. high with terete branches; the young twigs thinly silky. 

 Petioles about an inch long, firm ; leaves 3-6 in. long ; leaflets 5-9, 

 ovate or oblong, pointed, 2-4 in. long, the base rounded, coriaceous, 

 both sides glabrous, veins not much raised. Flowers in dense axillary 

 racemes 3-6 in. long, on short woody peduncles. Pedicels $ in. long, 

 cernuous, thinly silky. Calyx turbinate, \ in. deep, thinly silky, the 

 teeth irregularly deltoid, reaching a quarter of the way down. Corolla 

 yellowish, not twice as long as the calyx, the standard half an inch 

 broad. Stamens monadelphous. Pod roundish, sessile, \\ in. broad, 

 the centre much thicker and more verrucose than in the other species, 

 the faces glabrous, the rigid wing very narrow and sometimes absent 

 from one side, the style slightly oblique. — Benth. 1. c. 78. P. santa~ 

 Imoides, L'Her., DC. Prod. ii. 419.? 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Beudelot ! Sierra Leone, Oldfield! Afzeliusl 

 Guinea proper, Thonning, Barter ! Vogel I Mann I Fernando Po, Mann I 



The seeds are eatable, but when raw have an intoxicating effect. The species has 

 been gathered in America, but may have been planted there. . 



3. P. lucens, Guill. et Perr. Fl. Seneg. 229. A small tree with woody 

 glabrous branches. Petiole firm, glabrous, ^-f in. long ; rachis 1-4 

 in. long ; leaflets 3-7, oblong, 1 £-2 in. long, both ends rounded, coria- 

 ceous, both sides glaucous with the veins slightly raised, the upper 

 surface glabrous, lower finely grey-silky when young.- Flowers in lax 

 12-20-flowered racemes, the peduncle an inch long, the rachis 2-3 in., 

 the lower flowers drooping with glabrous spreading pedicels 4-6 lines 

 long. Calyx turbinate, glabrous, \ in. deep, the teeth short, deltoid, 



