96 FLORA OF JAMAICA Cxsalpinia 



Priot- ; Vere, Husband ! Ferry, Campbell 1 Great Goat Island ; Bull Bay ; 

 Harris I Fl. Jam. 6226, 9210, 11,858.— Cuba, Curasao, Yucatan. 



Small tree, 15-20 ft. high, all parts when bruised have a balsamic scent. 

 Leaves 5-10 cm. 1. ; leaflets obliquely elliptic-obovate or obcordate, unequal- 

 sided at the base, l"5-3'5 cm. 1. Panicle terminal, with numerous yellow 

 flowers. Bracts minute, very soon falling. Calyx : tube 2 mm. 1., sepals 4, 

 yellow, 6-7 mm. 1., the fifth greenish, 8 mm. 1. Petals a little longer than 

 the sepals, unequal, 4-clawed. Stamens a little shorter than the petals. 

 Pod somewhat swollen, succulent, blackish-brown, 3(l-5)-seeded, with 

 partial divisions between the seeds, 3 -5-5 cm. I. Seeds more or less 

 roundish-flattened, 7 -8 mm. in diam. 



5. C. coriaria Willd. Sp. PL ii. 532 (1799) ; small tree 

 without prickles ; pinnse in 4-7 paii'S and an odd one ; leaflets 

 in 18-28 pairs.— ITac/. Jam. i. 330 ; Watt Bid. Econ. Prod. Ind. 

 ii. 6 ; Urh. Symb. Ant. ii. 284. Poinciana coriaria Jacq. Sel. Stirp. 

 Amer. 123, t. 175, /. 36 & Ed. pid. t. 260, /. 33. Libidibia coriaria 

 Schlecht. in Linnsea v. 193 (1830) ; Griseh. op. cit. 206. 



Divi-divi, Libi-dibi. 



In fl. May and Sept.-Nov. after rains; Liguanea plain, Macfadyenl 

 McNab ! Harris ! — Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, St. Thomas, St. Cruz, 

 Martinique, Trinidad, Cura<;ao, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia ; introduced 

 into India. 



Small crooked tree, 15-30 ft. high. Leaves 6-8 cm. 1. ; leaflets linear- 

 oblong, 5-9 mm. 1., 1-2 mm. br. Panicles terminal and axillary, much 

 shorter than the leaves, with numerous crowded fragrant white flowers. 

 Calyx : tube 2 • 5 mm. 1., sepals 3-4 mm. 1., recurved. Petals about 4 mm. 1., 

 one recurved, lip-like. Stamens longer than the petals, 6-7 mm. 1. Pod 

 curled, flat, not splitting open, 0-8-seeded, 3-5-5 cm. 1., 2 cm. br. 



The pods are rich in tannin, and are used by tanners for the same 

 purposes as sumach. Fermentation occurs in cargoes, due to the presence 

 of the oily seeds, and it has been suggested that an extract might be made 

 locally from fresh pods. Trees in dry districts yield good results ; cultiva- 

 tion is not necessary. The pod powdered is astringent, anti-periodic, 

 and tonic. 



C. sappan L. (Sp. PI. 381), a native of India and the Malay Islands, is 

 cultivated and is perhaps now spontaneous in Jamaica. It is a small tree ; 

 leaves l'5-3 dm. 1., pinnse in 9-12 pairs, leaflets in 10-15 pairs, oblong, 

 very oblique at base, 15-20 mm. l.j 7-10 mm. br. ; panicles often as long as 

 the leaves; pod oblique, oblong, woody, not opening, 3-4-seeded. The 

 pods are used in India for tanning and dyeing, and the wood for dyeing. 



[H^MATOXYLUM L. 



Tree, the wood of which contains a valuable dye. Leaves 

 abruptly pinnate, or bipinnate, the lowest pair of leaflets becoming 

 pinnse ; leaflets in few pairs (2-4). Racemes axillary. Calyx 

 5-cleft ; segments somewhat unequal, very imbricate. Petals 

 small, yellow, narrowly obovate. Stamens hairy at the base. 

 Ovules 2 or 3. Pod flat-compressed, splitting open in the middle 

 of the valves, not at the margins. Seed transversely oblong, 

 without endosperm ; hilum ventral. 



Species 1, native of central America and Colombia. 



