Dichrostachys.] xlvii. § mimose^e (o liver). 333 



1. D. nutans, Benth. in Book. Journ. Bot. iv. 1842, 353. Shrub or 

 small tree ; extremities terete, glabrous or pubescent, usually armed 

 with acute spreading- axillary spines. Leaves glabrous or pubescent ; 

 pinnae 5-10-jugate, occasionally more numerous, with a stipitate gland 

 between each pair ; leaflets sessile, linear or linear-oblong-, obtuse or 

 broadly pointed, sometimes mucronulate, usually in from 12-22 pairs ; 

 1J-4 lines, rarely 5-6 lines long-. Flowers in dense axillary g-eminate 

 or solitary pedunculate obtuse spikes, together with the peduncle 1A-3 

 in. long* ; the hermaphrodite flowers yellow, the lower neuter " pink." 

 Bracts linear, concave or hooded above, rather shorter than the 5-6- 

 nerved and -toothed calyx. Petals coherent § or J of their length. 

 Ovary laxly pilose, style slender, glabrous. Legume contorted, gla- 

 brous or thinly pubescent, varying from J-J in. in breadth ; valves de- 

 pressed and subcoherent between the seeds. — (Jaillea dichrostachys, Guill. 

 et Perr. Fl. Seneg. i. 240. Mimosa tricolor, Schum. et Thonn. Guin. PI. 

 326. Desmanthus nutans, DC. Prod. ii. 446. D. trichostachys and D. 

 leptostachys, DC. I.e., D. divergens, Willd., DC. I.e. ; Mimosa sanguinea, 

 Bruce, Trav. vii. 147. Acacia spifiosa, E. Mey. Comm. PI. Afr. Austr. i. 

 170 (Benth. in Hook. Journ. I.e. and Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 1846, 83.) 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone ! Senegambia ! Niger land ! Various Collectors. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper! Nubia, Speke and Grant! (A rigid divari- 

 cately-branched form from a dry station.) Adir, Petherick ! 



Lower Guinea. Angola, various provinces, Dr. Welwitsch! Congo, Burton! 

 " Benguela,'' Curror! Var. setulosa, Welw. mss. Pinnae 10-13 pairs or more, leaflets 

 very small with a setulose tip, Huilla, Dr. Welwitsch ! 



South Central. Lake Ngami, M'Cabe! 



Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land and Bovuma river, Dr. Kirk! Eumuma, Zan- 

 guebar, Speke and Grant! 



Figured in Bruce's Abyssinian " Travels" as " Ergett Dimmo" (vol. vii. No. 6). 



Dichrostachys Forlesii, Benth. (I.e.), from Delagoa Bay, is nearly allied to the above, 

 differing in the fewer pinnae of the leaves and one or two other characters of doubtful 

 constancy. 



2. D. platycarpa, Welwitsch Apont. 576. A small slender spinose 

 tree of 10-15 ft. ; extremities pubescent at first. Pinna? 10-18-jugate, 

 with a stipitate gland between at least the upper pinnae ; leaflets as in 

 D. nutans, 1-2 lines long', scarcely exceeding J ¥ in. in breadth. 

 Spikes usually shorter than the leaves. Legume contorted, 2-4 in. 

 long, |— 1J in. broad. 



Upper Guinea. Bagroo river, Mann ! 



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



Dr. Bolle, in Peters' Mossamb. Bot. pp. 9, 10, cites both Dichrostachys tenuifolia, 

 Benth., and D. cinerea, W. and A., as occurring in Zambesi land. The former species 

 was first described from Madagascar specimens, while D. cinerea is Indian. I fear, 

 however, that sufficient allowance has not been made for the great variability of D. 

 nutans, and as I do not find specimens in Dr. Kirk's rich collections which I should 

 refer to either of these in preference to D. nutans, I prefer to await further information 

 before admitting them. 1 doubt if D. nutans be really distinct from D. cinerea. 



9. NEPTUNIA, Lour. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 592. 



Flowers 5-merous, capitate, sessile, the upper hermaphrodite, the 

 lower neuter. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals free or cohering, "valvate." 



