262 xlvii. § c^salpiniejE (oliver). [Mezonevrum. 



face, bicorniculate." Filaments densely pilose below. Ovary very 

 thinly hairy, narrowed into a moderately slender style curved above ; 

 stigma truncate, scarcely dilated ; ovules about 4. Legume flat, coria- 

 ceous, elliptical, 2-seeded, or roundish and 1- seeded, with a minute 

 terminal apiculus, ventral margin broad and thickened, 1-1 J in. long. 



Lower Guinea. Golungo Alto (flower) and Pungo Andongo (fruit), Angola, Dr. 

 WelwiUch ! 



3. CJHSALPINIA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 565. 



Calyx-lobes 5, imbricate, the lower outside and often larger. Petals 

 5, orbicular or obovate, nearly equal or the upper smaller. Stamens 

 10, free ; filaments usually pubescent or glandular at the base ; anthers 

 uniform, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary sessile or subsessile, free, 

 inserted at the base of the short calyx-tube ; style usually filiform with 

 a terminal truncate, concave, sometimes sinuate stigma ; ovules usually 

 few. Legume ovate, elliptical, oblong or falcate, compressed, exalate, 

 coriaceous, 2-valved or slowly dehiscent or indehiscent. Seeds trans- 

 verse, usually separated by cellular partitions, " exalbuminous," (or 

 albuminous in C. pulcherrima), with a short straight radicle. — Trees or 

 shrubs, sometimes climbing, with or without prickles. Leaves bipinnate. 

 Flowers yellow to red, often handsome, in simple or panicled racemes. 



A considerable Tropical American and Asiatic genus, with three species, of which 

 C. Bonducella is one, extending to Australia. 



1.* C. pulcherrima, Sw. Obs. 166. A small glabrous tree of 10-15 

 ft. ; branches unarmed, often with a glaucous bloom. Leaves bipinnate, 

 J-l ft. long, with 4-9 pairs of widely spreading 5-12-jugate pinnse ; 

 rachis unarmed or with minute prickles at the insertion of the pinnae j 

 leaflets larger towards the extremity of each pinna, obovate or oblan- 

 ceolate-oblong, very obtuse entire or emarginate, with or without a 

 minute mucro, base very oblique, upper margin rounded from the short 

 distinct petiolule ; upper leaflets usually 6—10 lines long. Racemes 

 terminal and from the upper axils, corymbose or pyramidal, exceeding 

 the leaves, bearing numerous very showy scarlet flowers on' long (2-3 

 in.) ascending pedicels. Bracts subulate, falling long before the expan- 

 sion of the flowers. Calyx-lobes glabrous, much imbricate, the lower 

 overlapping the rest like a hood. Petals usually J- 1 in. long, much 

 narrowed to the base. Filaments filiform, much exserted. Ovary 

 glabrous, narrowed into a long filiform style. Legume coriaceous, flat, 

 usually slightly broader towards the obliquely apiculate apex, 4-8- 

 seeded, 2-J-4J in. long, |-| in. broad above. Seeds compressed obovate- 

 quadrate, albuminous. — Poinciana pulcherrima, Linn. ; DC. Prod. ii. 484. 



I have only seen specimens from Sierra Leone, Loanda, and Zanzibar; but it is re- 

 corded from various localities, being cultivated throughout the Tropics for the sake of 

 its brilliant flowers. It is believed to be of Asiatic origin. 



2. C. Bonducella, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 357. A scrambling shrub; 

 branches, leaf-rachis and inflorescence pubescent or villous and armed 



