LEGUMINOS^l. CCVII. RUDOLPHIA. CCVIII. BUTEA. 



373 



Cult. The species of Coral-tree have fine large leaves and 

 splendid flowers, and are therefore worth cultivating in every 

 collection of stove plants ; they all thrive well in light loamy 

 soil. In order to bring them into flower they should be placed 

 on shelves in the stove, when they have lost their leaves 

 giving them hardly any water, and when they begin to shew 

 flowers they may be watered more freely. Cuttings of all, if 

 taken off at a joint without depriving them of their leaves, strike 

 root readily in sand, under a hand-glass, in moist heat. E. lau- 

 rifolia and E. crista-gdlli will thrive and flower freely if planted 

 in the open ground, in a warm sheltered situation ; in such a situa- 

 tion, however, they are always killed to the stump in winter. 



CCVII. RUDO'LPHIA (in honour of Charles Asmund Ru- 

 dolph, a botanist of Jena). Willd. nov. act. scrut. berol. 3. p. 

 151. spec. 3. p. 918. Erythrina, spec, of Lin. and Juss. Butea, 

 spec, of Pers. 



LIN. SYST. D\ailelph\a, Decdndria. Calyx tubular, bilabiate, 

 4- cleft; upper lobe largest and obtuse, lower one acute, 2 

 lateral ones very short. Corolla witli an oblong-linear, straight, 

 very long vexillum. Wings very narrow, shorter than the calyx, 

 as well as parts of the carina. Stamens diadelphous. Legume 

 compressed, flat, sessile, many-seeded, mucronate by the style. 

 Seeds flat. Climbing shrubs with simple leaves, which are fur- 

 nished with 2 stipels each at the top of the petiole. 



1 R. VOLU'BILIS (Willd. 1. c. Vahl. eel. 3. p. 41. t. 30.) 

 branches dotted from tubercles ; leaves glabrous, cordate, ovate, 

 acuminated ; racemes bearing flowers from the base. Tj . ^. S. 

 Native of Porto-Rico, on the highest mountains, and of Mexico. 

 Flowers scarlet, an inch and a half long. 



Far. ft, pilosidscula (D. C. prod. 2. p. 414.) branches and 

 petioles pilose. Erythrina cordifolia, Juss. ined. Erythrina 

 Portoricensis, Desf. 



Twining Rudolphia. Shrub tw. 



2 R. ROSEA (Tussac, fl. ant. t. 22.) branches smooth, glabrous ; 

 leaves ovate-oblong, glabrous, acuminated ; racemes peduncu- 

 late. \i . r *. S. Native of St. Domingo. Flowers scarlet, 

 hardly an inch long. Legume pubescent. Perhaps the figure 

 in Plum. icon. t. 102. f. 1. is referrible to this species, and all 

 the synonymes to the following, but the leaves in our plant are 

 not peltate as in it, the flowers are smaller and the legume 

 is not glabrous nor torose at the seeds, as represented in the 

 figure of Plumier. 



.ficwe-nowered Rudolphia. Clt. 1826. Shrub tw. 



3 R. PELTA'TA (Willd. 1. c.) leaves rather cordate, oblong- 

 lanceolate, peltate ; raceme on a long peduncle. T? . '"'. S. 

 Native of St. Domingo. Plum. ed. Burm. t. 102. f. 1. Ery- 

 thrina planisiliqua, Lin. spec. 993. Lam. diet. 2. p. 392. Per- 

 haps the same as the last species. Flowers probably scarlet. 



Peltate-leaved Rudolphia. Shrub tw. 



4 R. DUBIA (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 6. p. 432. 

 t. 591.) branches angular, sulcated, glabrous; petioles winged; 

 leaves somewhat deltoid-ovate, and somewhat hastately cordate 

 at the base, and acuminated at the apex, glabrous ; peduncles ax- 

 illary ; legume beaked by the style. ^ ^- S. Native of New 

 Granada, in shady places near Turbaco, ex Kunth, and in Cuba, 

 about the Havannah, Willd. Glycine sagittata, Humb. in Willd. 

 enum. 757. Flowers scarlet or rose-coloured. 



Doubtful Rudolphia. Clt. 1815. Shrub tw. 



Cult. The species are elegant climbers, bearing large scarlet 

 flowers, and are well adapted for covering the rafters in stoves 

 or stove conservatories. Their culture and propagation are the 

 same as for the species Erythrina, which see. 



CCVIH. Bl?TEA (in honour of John Earl of Bute, once a 

 munificent patron of Botany). Roxb. cor. 1. p. 22. D. C. 

 prod. 2. p 414. Plaso, Rheed. and Adans. 



LIN. SYST. Diadelphia, Decdndria. Calyx campanulate, 5- 

 toothed, the 2 superior teeth approximate and almost connected. 

 Corolla with a lanceolate spreading vexillum ; keel incurved, 

 about equal in length to the wings and vexillum. Stamens dia- 

 delphous. Legume stipitate, compressed, flat, membranous, in- 

 dehiscent, 1 -seeded at the apex. Seed large, compressed. 

 Asiatic, unarmed trees, with pinnately trifoliate leaves, and large 

 ovate, roundish, stipellate leaflets. Racemes many-flowered. 

 Flowers 3 together, on short pedicels, and furnished with 2 

 bracteoles each, under the calyx. Corolla of a deep scarlet 

 colour. Down on the calyxes usually black and velvety. This 

 genus probably agrees better with the tribe Dalbergiece than with 

 the present. 



1 B. FRONDOSA (Roxb. cor. 1. p. 22. t. 21. asiat. res. 3. p. 

 469.) branches pubescent; leaflets roundish, obtuse, or emar- 

 ginate, rather velvety beneath ; corolla 4-times the length of the 

 calyx ; calycine teeth acutish. Jj . S. Native of the East 

 Indies, on the mountains Rheed. mal. 6. t. 16 and 17. B. 

 frondosa, Kern. icon. sel. 1 . t. 4. Erythrina monosperma, Lam. 

 diet. 1. p. 391. Stipes and sutures of the legumes clothed with 

 white tomentum, but the valves are hardly pubescent. Flowers 

 2 inches long. The red juice which flows from the tree evapo- 

 rates to the consistence of gum, which is astringent, and is called 

 gum-lac or East India kino, but is not so good as the African 

 kino. The expressed juice of the fresh flowers, and infusions of 

 the dried flowers yield a water colour brighter than gamboge ; 

 they also yield a fine durable yellow lake in a large proportion. 

 The lac insects are frequently found upon the smaller branches 

 and petioles of the tree ; but whether the natural juices of its 

 bark contribute to improve th.eir red colouring matter has not 

 been determined. 



Frondose Butea. Clt. 1796. Tree 40 feet, 



2 B. SUPE'RBA (Roxb. cor. 1. t. 22.) branches glabrous; 

 leaflets roundish, obtuse, velvety beneath ; corolla 4-times the 

 length of the calyx ; calycine teeth acute. >j . / "\ S. Native 

 of Coromandel, on the mountains. This is a very shewy tree, 

 approaching the preceding species, but is larger in all its 

 parts. It yields similar juice. 



Superb Butea. Clt. 1798. Shrub tw. 



3 B. PARVIFLORA (Roxb. hort. beng. p. 53.) branchlets pu- 

 bescent ; leaflets roundish, obtuse, clothed with silky tomentum 

 beneath ; racemes panicled ; corolla hardly twice the length of 

 the calyx ; calycine teeth acute. lj . '"\ S. Native of Coroman- 

 del. Flowers 4 lines long. 



Small-flowered Butea. Shrub tw. 



4 B. BRAAMIA'NA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 415.). J? . . G. Native 

 of China. Braam. icon. chin. t. 23. This tree comes very near 

 to B. frondosa, but differs in the leaflets being edged with white, 

 probably with white tomentum, in the calyx being greenish, 

 in the flowers being fewer on the racemes, in the genitals being 

 more exserted, and in the petals diverging more. 



Braam's Butea. Tree tw. 



Cult. The species of this genus bear large fine leaves, and 

 large shewy scarlet flowers. Their culture and propagation are 

 the same as for the species of Erythrina, which see. 



Tribe VI. 



DALBERGIE'^E (plants agreeing in some important charac- 

 ters with Dalbergia. Bronn. diss. p. 134. exclusive of some 

 genera. D. C. mem. legum. x. Corolla papilionaceous (f. 51. 

 b.), perigynous. Stamens variously connected. Embryo with 

 the radicle bent back upon the edge of the cotyledons (f. Zl.e.f.), 

 which are thick (f. 21. c.). Legumes 1-2-seeded, indehiscent. 

 Usually climbing shrubs, with impari-pinnate leaves, rarely, 

 but sometimes pinnately trifoliate or simple. This tribe is pro- 



