Casalpinia.] xlvii. § oksalpinie^ (oliver). 263 



sparsely or densely with short unequal slightly recurved prickles. Leaves 

 ample, stipulate, 1-1 J ft. long, with about 4-7 pairs widely spreading 

 5-10-jugate pinnae ; leaflets ovate-elliptical or elliptic-oblong, apex 

 rounded or shortly and broadly pointed with a short fine mucro, base 

 rounded, subsessile, usually at length glabrate or the midrib and mar- 

 gin puberulous, the larger 1-lf in. long. Racemes many-flowered, 

 simple or branched below ; bracts linear-subulate with a fine recurved 

 point projecting beyond the unopened flowers. Calyx rusty-pubescent, 

 lobes recurved. Petals yellow, spreading, the upper sometimes spotted 

 with red. Legumes 2-valved, 2—3 in. long, 1 J— If in. broad, coriaceous, 

 covered with short spreading straight prickles ; 1— 2-seeded. Seeds sub- 

 globose or ovoid, bluish-grey or lead-coloured. — Guilandina Bonducella, 

 £.; DC. Prod. ii. 480. (G. Bonduc, Ait., 0. minus.) 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Cape Palmas, T. Vogel! Fernando Po, Barter! 



Mozamb. Distr. Luabo river, Dr. Kirk ! 



No doubt abundant elsewhere along the African coast, as it is generally on the shores 

 of the Tropics of both hemispheres. G. Bonduc, a nearly allied and widely-spread, 

 though less common Tropical species, of which I have not seen African specimens, 

 differs in the absence of stipules, erect bracts, and less degree of pubescence. I pre- 

 sume that the plant recorded under this name from various localities in Tropical Africa 

 is C. Bonducella. 



4. HOFFMANSEGGIA, Cav. ; Benth. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. Plant, i. 567. 



Sepals 5, coherent at base in a very short tube, the posterior broader, 

 subvalvate in aestivation (in the African species). Petals 5, lanceolate, 

 rotundate or obovate, posterior smaller. Stamens 10, declinate ; anthers 

 uniform, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary subsessile, 3-co -ovulate ; 

 style rather short or filiform, curved at the tip with an oblique rather 

 dilated stigma. Legume 2-valved, thinly coriaceous, shortly setulose 

 in the African species, few-seeded. Seeds compressed, exalbuminous, 

 with a short straight radicle. — Herbs or low shrubs, frequently glan- 

 dular. Leaves bipinnate or lateral pinnae wanting ; leaflets small, with 

 or without stipellae. Flowers yellow or red, racemose, racemes leaf- 

 opposed or terminal, bracts deciduous. 



A small genus, chiefly American, with two South African representatives, of which 

 but one occurs between the Tropics. 



1. H. Burchellii, Benth. in Hb. Kew. An ascending or diffuse setu- 

 lose herb of \-\ ft. from a woody stock; root-fibres 4-6 in., conside- 

 rably thickened or fusiform. Leaves 1-3-jugate with a terminal pinna, 

 or lateral pinnae wanting ; when present, usually 4-8-foliolate, ter- 

 minal pinna (or simply pinnate leaf) 10-20-foliolate, leaflets opposite 

 with minute setaceous stipellae, oblong or ovate-oblong obliquely 

 rounded at the base, commonly dotted more or less with conspicuous 

 black glands. Racemes several-flowered, erect, nearly equalling or 

 exceeding the leaves, sparsely setulose. Pedicels l£-2 lines long-, re- 

 curved above in fruit. Flowers (according to Dr. Burchell) red, tne 



