326 xlvij. § mimose^: (oliver). [Entadu. 



Lower Guinea. Angola, Golungo Alto, Dr. Welwitsch I 



Dr. Welwitsch states that one of his negroes, from Cabinda, named the plant in 

 Angola Entada. A pod is in the Kew Museum, presented by Sir George Grey, and 

 indistinctly labelled as from Lake Ngami. It is probably widely spread in Africa, as 

 in Tropical Asia. 



It affords a fibre used for textile purposes. {Dr. Welwitsch.) 



2. E. Wahlbergii, Harv. Flora Cap. ii. 277. A slender climber, 

 wholly glabrous. Extremities terete faintly sulcate or striate. Pinnae 

 2-jugate ; rachis 1 J-4 in. long, spreading or deflexed, ecirrhose in our 

 specimens ; leaflets in 4-10-18 pairs, sessile, linear-oblong, obtuse, 

 scarcely mucronulate, very oblique at the obtuse or truncate base, the 

 nervure becoming median towards the apex, J-l in. long, 1-3 lines 

 broad. Flowers chocolate-red or brown, in dense cylindrical shortly 

 pedunculate spikes 1J-2J- in. long ; pedicels not exceeding 1 line, often 

 much shorter. Racemes solitary from the upper axils or distichously 

 panicled and patent from a zigzag rachis at the extremities. Bracts 

 and bracteoles subulate, present at flowering. Calyx-lobes acute, del- 

 toid. Petals spreading or recurved, confluent at the base with the 

 filaments and disk. Legume flat, arcuate, 4-6 in. from end to end of 

 the chord, 1-1 J in. broad or about \ less at the constrictions, 

 which are faint on the dorsal and rather deep on the ventral suture ; 

 larger pods with 10-13 articles each, varying from as broad to twice 

 as broad as long. Pericarp very thin, faintly reticulate, the endocarp 

 apparently not separable. Gynophore J in. or less. 



Upper Guinea. Leaflets 12-16 pairs, ^ in. long or less; flowers nearly sessile, 

 the stamens shorter than or barely exceeding the petals. Niger, Barter! 



Mozamb. Distr. Leaflets f-1 in. long, often in few pairs. Rovuma river, Dr. 

 Meller! 



In the Natal plant, originally described by Dr. Harvey, the flowers are on distinct 

 though short pedicels, and the stamens are more exserted. We have flowering and 

 fruiting specimens both from Natal and the Niger, and I can hardly doubt their specific 

 identity. 



3. E. africana, Guill. et Perr. Fl. Seneg. i. 233. A much-branched 

 tree of 15-30 ft. ; extremities shortly pubescent. Pinnae 2-4-jugate ; 

 leaflets 8-15-jugate, linear-oblong, obtuse or emarginate, paler be- 

 neath with a few scattered hairs, 4-5 lines long, J- line (? 1-2 lines) 

 broad. Spikes in fascicles of 2-4, supra-axillary, elongate, erect. 

 Calyx turbinate, 5-dentate. Ovary glabrous. Legume compressed, 

 chartaceous, oblong, subarcuate, with from 15-20 1 -seeded articles. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius ! Senegambia, Hevdelot and Perrottet. 

 Niger, Barter ! Fernando Po, Mann ! 



I have not seen an authentic specimen, and the description is taken from Guillemin 

 and Perrottet. The plants collected by Barter and Mann are in fruit only, but I can 

 hardly doubt that they belong to this species. The pods do not exceed 15 in. in length, 

 are irregularly or obscurely sinuous, flat, 3-44 in. broad ; the epicarp is papery, smooth, 

 and very obscurely transversely veined. Guillemin and Perrottet describe the pod as 

 8 in. broad, meaning no doubt 8 in. long. 



Nearly allied to E. africana is a plant of Zambesi land, of which we have fruiting 

 specimens only, gathered near Senna, on the Zambesi, by Dr. Kirk. It is a glabrous 

 climber (occurring from the coast to Tette). Pinnae about 4-jugate ; leaflets 10-12- 

 jugate, rather broadly oblong obtuse sessile, 7-9 lines long, 3 lines broad. Flowers 



