328 CALYCIFLOR^:. 



mited; flowers yellow. Named by Plumier, in honour of An- 

 dreas Caesalpinus, author of several botanical works, and phy- 

 sician to Pope Clement VIII. 



1. Caesalpinia Brasiliensis. BrasileUo-TF'ood. 



Unarmed, pinnee 4-paired, leaflets 7-8-paired, ellip- 

 tic or oval obtuse subglabrous, rachises and calices 

 pubescent, racemes simple or subpanicled, pedicels 

 rather shorter than the flowers, and stamens than the 

 corolla. Legumes thin piano-compressed. 



C. arborea inermis, foliis minoribus, paribus bipinnatis, ligno 

 kermesino, Browne, Jam. 227 C. Brasiliensis, Sicartz, Obs. 

 166 De Cand. Prod, II. 482. 



HAB. Common in dry limestone districts. 



FL. January. 



A tree, seldom more than 15 feet in height, with spreading 

 unarmed branches. Leaves bi-pinnate : pin nee 4-paired : leaf- 

 lets 7 8-paired, sub-opposite, shortly petiolulated, oval, obtuse 

 at the apex, shining and minutely puberulous above, ciliated, 

 puberulous beneath, especially along the mid nerve, 11^ inch 

 in length : common petiole subterete, pubescent. Racemes 

 sometimes axillary, solitary, simple ; at other times crowded 

 into a sort of panicle at the ends of the branches, many-flower- 

 ed : rachis angulose, pubescent : pedicels short (about 3 lines in 

 length), puberulous : flowers small, yellow. Calyx externally 

 puberulous, 5-fid ; 4 of the segments subequal, oval, blunt, 

 crisped, lacerato-fimbriated ; the 5th and lowest segment large, 

 roundish, concave, crisped, pectinated. Petals, 4 of them sub- 

 equal, clawed, oblong, puberulous towards the claw ; the 5th 

 without a claw, broad at the base, rounded, concave at the 

 apex so as to be somewhat hooded, ciliated, puberulous. Sta- 

 mens 10, subequal : filaments subulate, hairy towards the base : 

 anthers oblong, yellow. Ovary oblong, villous : style short: 

 stigma simple. Legume 2| inches long and nearly one broad, 

 thin, samaroid, leaflike, slightly inflated at the situation of the 

 seeds, linear, acuminate at the base, obtuse at the apex, glab- 

 rous, 4-seeded : seeds ovoid, compressed. 



De Candolle has described the legumes of this species as 

 one- seeded. The wood of this tree, according to Browne, is 

 very hard, of an orange tinge, and takes a fine polish ; it is full 

 of resin, and gives, on infusion, a fine full tincture. It is much 

 used for ornamental purposes in cabinet- making, and it is con- 

 sidered to be peculiarly well adapted for making the spokes of 

 the wheels of carriages. I am not aware that it is at present 

 ever cut down for exportation as a dye-wood. The best Brazil 

 wood for dyeing is sajd to be produced by the C. ECHINATA, a 

 native of Brazil. 



