Cryptosepalum.} xlvii. § cesalpinie^e (oliver). 305 



3. C. ? mimosoides, Welw. A low shrub, with a stout decumbent 

 root-stock, giving- off erect or ascending" leafy brunches from a span to 

 1 ft. in height; branches minutely pubescent or glabrate, slender, rather 

 rigid. Leaves 1J-3J in. long, distichous ; leaflets in 14-25 pairs at 

 intervals of 1-2 lines, oblong or linear often slightly falcate obtuse or 

 broadly obliquely pointed, rather coriaceous, nervose, glabrous or gla- 

 brescent, sessile, \ to over | in. in length ; rachis puberulous or glabrous. 

 Flowers (very sparingly produced, only seen in one specimen), 4 or 5 

 together at the extremity of a leafy branch. Pedicels about 1 line. 

 Involucral bracteoles thin, 2 lines long. Calyx-tube turbinate, glabrous, 

 \ line long, with 3 or 4 minute teeth. Petal elliptical, concave, three 

 times as long as the calyx. Perfect stamens 2, 1 with an apparently 

 effete anther. Ovary compressed, glabrous except on the sutures, on a 

 short pilose stipes ; ovules 2. Legume .... 



Lower Guinea. Pungo Andongo, Angola, Dr. Welwitsch / 



Specimens in leaf only, probably of a fourth species, allied to C. mimosoides, were 

 gathered in Pungo Andongo by Dr. Welwitsch. In habit it is similar, but attaining 

 20-30 in. Leaflets in 18-24 pairs, oblong lanceolate obtuse, with the midrib widely 

 eccentric immediately within the upper margin, ^-lq in. in length. Stipules subulate 

 or filiform, erect, 4-I in. long, caducous. 



20. BRACHYSTEGIA, Benth. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 582. 



Flowers enclosed in bud between a pair of sepal-like valvate brac- 

 teoles. Perianth reduced to 2 or more (5-7) minute oblong linear or 

 subulate scales, usually not exceeding 1—2 lines in length. Stamens 

 10-13 ; filaments slender, more or less distinctly connate at base ; an- 

 thers ovate or elliptical, versatile, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 

 subsessile or stipitate, 5-8-ovulate ; style elongate, slender ; stigma 

 terminal, obtuse. Legume oblong, usually at right angles to its short 

 stipes, compressed, ventral suture often slightly dilated, 2-valved ; valves 

 coriaceous or woody, at length smooth. Seeds " few, transverse, com- 

 pressed, exalbuminous ; cotyledons flat, with a short straight included 

 radicle." — Trees, unarmed. Leaves abruptly pinnate. Flowers rather 

 small in terminal simple spicate dense racemes or axillary paniculate 

 confluent glomerules. Bracts caducous -, bracteoles present at flower- 

 ing, valvate over the bud. 



Confined to Tropical Africa. 



Leaflets usually in 3-6 pairs. 



Leaflets pointed or acuminate, glabrous. Pedicels 2-3 lines . 1. B. appendiculata. 



Leaflets obtuse or broadly pointed. Pedicels 0-1 line . . . 2. B. spicceformit. 



Leaflets in 10-20 pairs 3. B.tamarindoides. 



1. B. appendiculata, Benth. in Linn. Trans, xxv. 313, t. 42. Tree 

 of 20-40 ft., wholly glabrous, or the inflorescence often puberulous; 

 extremities slender, divaricately branched. Leaflets usually in 4 pairs, 

 membranous or thinly coriaceous, shining and venose, varying from 

 oval or lanceolate to oblong-elliptical, often gradually obtusely acumi- 

 nate or broadly pointed obtuse or minutely emarginate, base unequal, 



