xxxi. leguminostE. 139 



1. A. precatorius, Linn. : Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 257 ; W. & A. Prodr. 

 236. Sans. Gunja, kdnchi. Veni. Gnnchi, hunch, (the seed raJcti, rattika). 



Nearly glabrous, young parts with scattered adpressed hairs. Common 

 petiole 2-4 in. long, terminating in a bristle. Leaflets deciduous, oppo- 

 site, nearly sessile, 10-15 pairs, the lowest pair near the base, oblong, 

 blunt, often mucronate, J-f in. long ; stipules linear-subulate. Flowers 

 rose-coloured or white, fasciculate on short pedicels, in dense axillary 

 pedunculate racemes ; peduncles 2-4 in. long, often* leaf-bearing. Pod 

 1-1 J in. long, | in. broad, oblong, rostrate, coriaceous, hairy when young. 

 Seeds 4-5, subglobose or ellipsoid, generally red, with a black eye on the 

 hilum, or more rarely white, or black with a white eye. 



A climber, with a woody stem and slender herbaceous branches, common in 

 most forest-tracts of the moister regions of India, ascending in the Sub-Himala- 

 yan tract to 3500 ft. Fl. at the' close of the rains. The seeds are used as 

 weights (1^-2 grains) by jewellers ; the root is a bad substitute for liquorice 

 (the root of Glycyrhiza glabra, Pharm. Ind. 75). 



9. ERYTHRINA, L. 



Trees, shrubs, or herbaceous undershrubs ; young branches often 

 prickly. Leaves trifoliolate, the lateral leaflets opposite ; stipules small ; 

 stipels glanduliform. Flowers large, generally red, in fascicles of 2 or 3, 

 forming axillary or terminal racemes. Calyx spathaceous, truncate, 5- 

 dentate or bilabiate. Standard sessile or unguiculate, much larger than 

 wings and keel. Stamens connate to the middle, the upper one free or 

 connate at the base with the rest ; anthers equal. Ovary stipitate, with 

 numerous ovules ; style incurved ; stigma small, terminal. Legume 

 stipitate, narrowed at both ends, opening more or less completely into 2 

 valves. Seeds ovoid ; hilum lateral, oblong. 



Calyx spathaceous, splitting longitudinally on the upper side, 



apex contracted, 5-toothed ; petals of keel free . . 1. E. indica. 



Calyx campanulate, bilabiate ; petals of keel connate . . 2. E. suberosa. 



Calyx campanulate, truncate, indistinctly toothed; petals of 



keel connate in the middle . . . . . 3. E. arlorescens. 



1. E. indica, Lam. ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 249 ; W. & A. Prodr. 260 ; 

 Wight Ic. t. 58. The Indian Coral-tree. Sans. Mandara. Vern. Pan- 

 gra, panjira, pangara. 



Glabrous, inflorescence and young leaves clothed with stellate pubes- 

 cence. Branches armed with numerous black prickles, petioles and 

 leaves unarmed. Leaflets broad-ovate, short-acuminate, entire, from a 

 truncate or somewhat cordate base, the terminal leaflet largest, often 7 

 in. broad and 6 in. long; lateral nerves 4-6 on either side of midrib. 

 Racemes one or several near the ends of branchlets, 8-12 in. long, project- 

 ing horizontally at a right angle from the branchlet ; flowers numerous, 

 large, of a bright dazzling scarlet, in fascicles of 3, almost verticillate, on 

 pedicels J in. long. Calyx spathaceous, half or one-third the length of 

 standard, contracted and 5-toothed at the top. Standard oblong, erect, 

 narrowed into a claw, wings and keel equal and conform, about 4 times 



