Parkinsonian xlvii. § ojesalpinieje (oliver). 267 



pointed, the pinnae appearing- as very long 1 simply pinnate geminate or 

 fascicled leaves at first sight. Flowers in lax axillary racemes, yellow j 

 bracts early caducous. 

 A genus of three species, one Cape and two American. 



1 * P. aculeata, Linn. ; DC. Prod. ii. 486. Coriaceous flattened 

 rachis of the pinnae J-2 ft. long-; leaflets frequently obsolete or minute, 

 seldom more than J-J in. long. Racemes shorter than the leaves. 

 Flowers J- 1 in. in expansion. 



Not indigenous in Africa, though cultivated or naturalized in various localities. 



9. OLIGOSTEMON, Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 570. 



Sepals 4 distinct, the outer anterior coriaceous, sheathing the pos- 

 terior and larger in bud ; inner sepal deeply 2-lobed, subpetaloid. 

 Petals 5, much shorter than the outer sepals, 3 upper lanceolate-oblong 

 colour-veined, 2 lower smaller glandular-denticulate. Stamens 4, de- 

 curved ; filaments very short and flattened ; anthers large, affixed 

 immediately above the base, 2-celled, each cell deeply sulcate and ter- 

 minating in an acuminate tip, dehiscing longitudinally near the apex, 

 2 posterior anthers connate nearly throughout. Ovary narrowed below, 

 with 4 strong longitudinal ridges or wings, 2-ovulate ; style subfili- 

 form ; stigma small terminal. Legume elongate, narrowed below, acu- 

 minate, not seen mature. — Shrub or small tree. Leaves alternate 

 imparipinnate ; leaflets petiolulate 5—9, rather large. Racemes erect, 

 terminal, with numerous Alpinia-like flowers. — Duparquetia, Baill. in 

 Adansonia, vi. 189. 



Peculiar to West Tropical Africa. 



M. Baillon, taking a different view of the structure of the flower, describes the calyx 

 as diphyllous, consisting only of the outer posterior sepal and the opposed anterior 

 contiguous one embraced by it; the 2 inner lobed sepals with the 3 posterior petals make 

 up the corolla, while the anterior glandular reduced petals are described as petaloid 

 staminodia. Fertile stamens he describes as 8 in number, regarding each of the four 

 2-celled anthers as double. 



1. O. pictus, Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxv. 305. t. 39. A shrub 

 of 6-20 ft. ; extremities and inflorescence at first rusty-puberulous. 

 Leaflets usually 7-9, thinly coriaceous, obovate-elliptical or the lower 

 broadly elliptical, rounded and shortly apiculate above, cuneate, or 

 slightly rounded at the base, lateral nerves few, su'bremote, connected 

 by somewhat transverse reticulation, 4-6 in. long, 2^—3 in. broad, on 

 petiolules of J-J in. Racemes erect densely many-flowered, at length 

 ^-1 ft. long. Bracts minute, ovate-deltoid, deciduous. Pedicels ascend- 

 ing or patent, puberulous J-l in. long, articulated a little above the 

 base with a pair of minute bracteoles below the joint. Inner larger 

 sepal 1-1| in. long. Anthers \ in. long. Mature legumes not seen ; 

 the most advanced in the Kew herbarium are 5 in. long, and nearly 

 \ in. broad above.: — Duparquetia orchidacea, Baill. in Adans. vi. 190. t. 4. 



Upper Guinea. Cameroons river, Mann! Gaboon, Duparquet, Griffon du 

 Bellay. 



Not known from elsewhere. 



