Dialium.] xlvii. § c^salpinie^e (oliver). 283 



slightly compressed, in dehiscent, with a fragile tomentose exocarp and 

 pulpy endocarp, 1- or 2-seeded. Embryo with flat, or nearly flat 

 cotyledons in a horny albumen. — Unarmed trees. Leaves unequally 

 pinnate with usually 3—7 leaflets ; leaflets alternate or opposite, entire. 

 Stipules minute very early deciduous. Flowers small in axillary and 

 terminal panicles. Bracts minute, caducous. 



A small genus, common to the Tropics of both hemispheres. The following species 

 are peculiar to Tropical Africa : — 



Leaflets usually 5-7. Panicles usually branched to a 3rd degree . 1. D. guineense. 

 Leaflets usually 3. Tertiary panicle-branches obsolete or short . . 2. D. angolense. 



1. D. guineense, Willd. in Ttoem. Arch. i. 30. t. 6. Tree of mode- 

 rate size. Leafy extremities rusty-pubescent or -puberulous ; leaflets 

 coriaceous, usually 5 or 7, shortly petiolulate, varying from oval and 

 ovate-lanceolate to elliptical or obovate-elliptical, apex narrowed to an 

 obtuse or subacute point, or rounded and usually more or less obtusely 

 apiculate, base more or less rounded or somewhat cuneate in the narrow- 

 leaved forms, minutely pubescent on expansion but early glabrous and 

 shining and finely reticulate above, pale or cinnamon-coloured (when 

 dry) with, or without minute appressed sparse pubescence and glandular 

 papillae beneath, 2-4 (5) in. long, j-lj (|— 2) in. broad ; petiolule 

 1-2| lines. Panicles many-flowered spreading terminal or from the 

 upper axils often much overtopping the leaves, with the buds rusty- 

 puberulous or -pubescent. Flowers 3-5 lines in diameter. Fruit J— f in. 

 in diameter, covered with a short velvety tomentum, 1- or 2-seeded; 

 the seeds embedded in a pleasantly acid pulp. — D. nitidum, Guill. et 

 Perr. Fl. Seneg. i. 267, t. 58. Codarium acutifolium and C. obtusifolium, 

 Afz., DC. Prod. ii. 520. C. discolor, DC. I.e. Dialium discolor, Hook, f., 

 Fl. Nigrit. 329. Codarium Solandri, Vahl, Enum. i. 302. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia and Sierra Leone, various collectors. Abbeokuta, 

 Dr. Irving! Gold Coast, Hove! Niger. T. Vogel! Barter! Princes Island, Mann! 



This plant varies considerably in the form of the leaflets, and probably also in the 

 size of the small flowers. A form in which the flowers are usually dipetalous, is the 

 D. discolor, cited above. 



The fruit is the " Velvet Tamarind " of Sierra Leone. 



2. D. angolense, Welw. mss. A tree of 20-35 ft. or taller, with a 

 trunk often 1—2 ft. in diameter ; extremities tawny- or ferruginous- 

 pubescent. Leaves almost invariably 3-foliolate ; leaflets very coriace- 

 ous, on both surfaces closely and prominently reticulate, varying from 

 ovate-lanceolate to elliptical, shortly broadly and obtusely acuminate, 

 rounded or broadly cuneate at base, at length glabrous or sparsely 

 and shortly hairy at least on the midrib beneath, 1|— 3 in. long, £-1 J 

 in. broad; pubescent petiolules 1 J— 2 lines. Flowers numerous, yel- 

 lowish, in terminal pubescent tomentose panicles, leafy below, less in- 

 tricate than in D. guineense, branches of the panicle either simple 

 racemes or the ultimate branchlets usually very short or obsolete. 

 Pedicels 1-1 J lines. Calyx spreading, 4-5 lines in diameter. Petals 



