320 XLVIl. § C^lSALPINIEiE (OLIVER). 



Confined to Africa. 



The cartilaginous layer described in " Genera Plantarum," I.e. as belonging to the 

 testa, I regard as albumen. 



1. B. africana, Hook. Ic. Plant, vi. 593-4. Shrub or small tree 

 attaining' 30 or 35 ft. ; extremities stout, ferruginous-pubescent at first. 

 Leaves collected towards the ends of the branches, at length f-1 or 

 sometimes 2 or 3 ft. long ; rachis smooth, glabrous, or clothed with 

 deciduous, ferruginous tomentum ; pinnae usually in about 3 pairs 

 (5—6 in var. aiu/olense) ; leaflets very variable in size, when fully 

 developed from 1 to (exceptionally) 3 or 4 in. in length, broadly ovate 

 or elliptic-ovate, varying in some forms to elliptical or oblong, very 

 obtuse, entire or minutely emarginate, on first unfolding thinly sil- 

 very with appressed hairs, early glabrous, and at length sometimes 

 subglaucous, thinly coriaceous, reticulation not prominent. Spikes 

 sparingly tomentose pubescent or glabrous, simple or panicled, J-l ft. 

 long. Flowers " white, fragrant," numerous, about Jin. in diameter. 

 Bracts minute, squamiform. Legume l^-2Hn. long, narrowed at the 

 base into a stipes of £- J in. 



Upper Guinea. Nupe Niger, Barter! 



Lower Guinea. Huilla, Angola, Br. Welwitsch! Var. andongensis. Pinnae in 

 5-6 pairs; leaflets elliptic-oblong, 9-13 to each pinna. Golungo Alto, Angola, Br. 

 Wehoitsch ! 



This may prove a distinct species. The specimens are past flowering. The legumes 

 agree with the type. Dr. Welwitsch collected fruiting specimens of another variety in 

 Huilla (var. cordata, Welw.), distinguished by its more or less distinctly cordate-based 

 subsessile or very shortly petiolulate leaflets. 



33. ERYTHROPHLCEUM, Afzelius j Benth. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. Plant, i. 588. 



Flowers small, regular. Calyx campanulate 5-fid, lobes ovate or 

 lanceolate. Petals 5, oblanceolate, imbricate, pilose externally, but 

 slightly exceeding the calyx. Stamens 10, free, filaments filiform gla- 

 brous panthers small, broadly elliptical or rotundate, dorsifixed. Ovary 

 stipitate, pilose-tomentose, 5-8-ovulate ; style short or obtuse, terminal 

 stigma at first subsessile, style at length accrescent. Legume oblong, 

 follicular (by the dorsal suture) or 2-valved in dehiscence ; valves 

 thickly coriaceous, smooth or but faintly transversely ridged externally. 

 Seeds usually 5-8, transverse, compressed, albuminous ; cotyledons 

 flat, elliptical, with an emarginate base embracing the lower half of 

 the short thick radicle. — Unarmed trees. Leaves bipinnate; leaflets 

 alternate petiolulate. Flowers very shortly pedicellate in dense 

 spiciform, paniculate racemes, collected at the extremities of the 

 branches. Bracts minute or obsolete ; bracteoles 0. 



Besides the following, confined to W. Africa, there is a Tropical Australian species. 



1. E. guineense, Bon, Gard. Bid. ii. 424. A large tree from 40 

 to about 100ft. in height; extremities at first finely rusty-puberulous, 

 early glabrous. Pinnae in 2-4 nearly opposite pairs \ ft. more or less 



