260 L. LEGUMINOS^. (J. G. Baker.) [Poinciana. 



100. POINCIANA, Linn. 



Erect unarmed trees. Leaves just those of Cwsalpinia. Floivers in corym- 

 bose racemes. Calyx deeply cleft, with the disk a little above the base, the 

 segments valvate, oblanceolate, subequal. Petals spreading, subequal, orbicular, 

 with a claw, the blade crispato-timbriate. Stamens 10, free, declinate, much 

 exserted ; anthers oblong, versatile. Ovary subsessile, many-ovuled ; style very 

 long, filiform, stigma minute capitate. Pod flat, thin, dehiscent, ligulate, con- 

 tinuous within, the sutures neither thickened nor winged. DISTRIB. Species 

 2-3, Trop. African and Asiatic. 



1. P. elata, Zmn.; DC. P>-odr. ii. 484; Roxb. Fl Ind. ii. 355; Wall. 

 Cat. 5812 ; W. $ A. Prodr. 282 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 178 ; CEesalpinia elata, 

 Swarts Obs. 1,66. 



Truly wild; in the WESTERN PENINSULA, planted elsewhere. DISTRIB. Arabia, W. 

 Trop. Africa. 



An erect/tree,: 20-30 ft. high. Leaves -f ft. long ; pinnae 10-16 ; leaflets 30-40, 

 membranous, caducous, close, sessile, obtuse, ligulate. Flowers in corymbose 

 racemes pedicels and obovoid buds finely grey-downy. Calyx very coriaceous, 

 ^-1 in. long. Petals scarcely exserted, an inch broad, shortly clawed. Filaments 

 bright red, 3-4 times the length of the calyx, downy near the base. Pod 6-8 in. long 

 by above an inch,'4-8-seeded. The Mascarene P. REGIA, Bojer, with petals much 

 exceeding the calyx, is frequently planted in India. 



101. PARKZNSONZA, Linn. 



Trees. Leaves with 2-6 pinnae from a very short rachis. Floivers yellow, in 

 short racemes. Calyx deeply cleft, with a subbasal disk, the divisions subval- 

 vate, lanceolate, subequal. Petals exserted, broad, the upper with a long claw. 

 Stamens 10, included, villose ; anthers versatile. Ovary short-stalked, many- 

 ovuled ; style filiform, stigma terminal. Pod turgid, dry, moniliform, finally 

 dehiscing. DISTRIB. Species 3, of which 2 are American, the other Cape. 



1. P. aculeata, Linn. ; 1)C. Prodr. ii. 486; Roxb. Hoi-t. Sena. 31 ; W. 

 $ A. Prodr. 284; JBedd. Fl. Sylv. 91 ; Anal. Gen. t. 13, fig. 2. 



Universally cultivated and often naturalised. A native of Tropical America. 

 A glabrous bush or low tree, armed with sharp woody spines, which represent the 

 primary rachis of a bipinnate leaf and have 2-6 pinnae congested in their axils. Pinna 



tl ft. long, the rachis much flattened, so that when the very minute obtuse oblanceo- 

 be leaflets have fallen or are not developed they resemble the phyllodes of an acacia. 

 Racemes lax, shorter than the leaves ; pedicels long, slender, erecto-patent. Corolla 

 tender, yellow, f-| in. Pod 3-4 in. long. 



102. WAG A TEA, Dalz. 



A climbing shrub. Leaves abruptly bipinnate. Flouiers in long simple or 

 panicle d spikes. Calyx cleft about half way down into 5 obtuse teeth, the lowest 

 the longest and wrapt over the others, the disk high up in the tube. Petals ob- 

 lancecilate, obtuse, subequal, little exserted. Stamens 10, included, nearly 

 straight, filaments naked ; anthers oblong. Ovary sessile, many-ovuled ; style 

 slightly clubbed at the tip, stigma oblique. Pod ligulate-oblong, indehiscent, 

 few-seeded, subtorulose, with thickened sutures, not winged. DISTRIB. 

 Endemic. 



