260 xlvii. § CiESALPiNiEiE (oliver). [PeltopJwrum. 



1. PELTOPHORTJM, Vogel; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 565. 



Sepals 5, united at the base into a short obconical tube, lobes imbri- 

 cate, nearly equal. Petals obovate or orbicular, narrowed below, 

 undulate. Stamens 10, free, filaments densely pilose within at the 

 base , anthers uniform, linear-oblong-. Ovary sessile or very shortly 

 pedicellate, with 2 or more ovules ; style elongate ; stigma broadly 

 peltate. Legume flat, oblong- or oval, indehiscent, valves consolidated 

 around the median cavity forming- a wing on each side, usually longi- 

 tudinally striate, 1-few-seeded. Seeds oblong, compressed, albuminous 

 (in the African species) ; cotyledons flat, radicle ovoid, straight, partly 

 exserted. — Trees, destitute of prickles. Leaves twice pinnate ; leaflets 

 numerous. Flowers yellow in erect single or panicled bracteate 

 racemes. 



A small genus, represented in both hemispheres. The following is the only African 

 species. 



1. P. africanum, Sond. in Linnaa, xxiii. 35. A tree of 20-30 ft. 

 (in Angola, Br. Welwitsch) ; leafy extremities rusty-pubescent or tomen- 

 tose. Pintise usually in 5-10 pairs, opposite or subopposite ; leaflets in 

 10-20 pairs on the upper or median pinnse, oblong, mucronulate, thinly 

 pubescent or glabrate above, paler with adpressed pubescence beneath, 

 base slightly oblique, sessile, 2-3 lines long. Racemes erect, slightly 

 overtopping the leaves, 4-7 in. long, shortly tomentose-pubescent. Bracts 

 subulate, shorter than or nearly equalling the pedicels, sometimes cadu- 

 cous. Calyx-tube short, obconical, glabrous within, as are the reflexed 

 ovate-oblong obtuse lobes. Petals obovate or rotundate, much nar- 

 rowed, and sometimes pilose on the median line below. Filaments 

 densely pilose at the base inside. Ovary subsessile, adpressed-hirsute ; 

 style recurved, glabrous above ; ovules about 3. Fruit much compressed, 

 coriaceous, oblong, tapering to each end, puberulous or glabrate, with 

 longitudinal anastomosing striae, excepting along the winglike margin ; 

 2J-3 in. long, f-1 in. broad, 1-2-seeded. 



Lower Guinea. Mossamedes and Huilla, Angola, Br. Welwitsch ! 

 South Central. Near Lake Ngami, J. M l Cabe ! 

 Occurs also in the Macalisberg, south of the Tropic. 



2. MEZONEURUM, Desf. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 565. 



Calyx-tube short, very oblique, segments 5, broadly imbricate, 

 deciduous, the anterior segment larger, concave or hooded, exterior and 

 enclosing the rest in bud. Petals 5, rather unequal. Stamens 10 

 free ; filaments glabrous or pilose below ; anthers uniform, elliptical or 

 oblong, dehiscing longitudinally, connective slightly thickened behind. 

 Ovary sessile or shortly stipitate with 2 or more ovules $ style subulate ; 

 stigma terminal, truncate or dilated-infundibuliform. Legume inde- 

 hiscent or nearly so, more or less coriaceous, much compressed, ventral 

 suture only longitudinally winged or dilated. Seeds l-oo , compressed, 



