PART IV ] R. S. HOLE : On Aibizzia Luthamii. 3 



Flower-heads globose, 1 in. to 1| in. in diameter, on pubescent 

 peduncles 0'2 in. to 0'9 in. long. 



Solitary, or fascicled and 2 5 together, usually at the lower leaf- 

 less nodes (often on stunted leafless branches) , 



Very rarely in the axils of the lower leaves, (a) 



Flowers, white, distinctly pedicelled, pedicel (b) 0'03 in. 0'05 in. 



Calyx tubular-campanulate, valvate, O'l in. 0'18 in. long, mid- 

 diameter '04 in. O'OS in., subequally 5-toothed, more or less deeply 

 split on one side, teeth deltoid to lanceolate, 0'2 in. 0'04 in. long, 

 puberulous or adpressed-pubescent without, especially towards the apex. 



Corolla infundibuliform, 0-2 in. 0'3 in. long, subequally 5-lobed, 

 lobes valvate, lanceolate, 0'05 in. O'l in. long, densely adpressed- 

 pubescent without. 



Stamens 30-50, long-exserted, filaments united at base into a tube 

 0'07 in. 18 in. long. Filaments 0'4 in. 0'5 in. long. Anthers 

 minute, quadrate, versatile, dehiscing longitudinally. 



Ovary superior, shortly stipitate, stipe (above the pedicel) O'Ol in. 

 - 03 in. long, glabrous to sparsely puberulous, ovules 8. 



Style O'4-o in. long. 



Pod straight or slightly curved, liguliform, compressed, dry, 2 in. 

 5 in. long, | in. 1 in. wide, opening with straight valves. Apex 

 mucronate, acute or acuminate, base cuneate, often more or less pro- 

 longed into a distinct stipe above the thickened pedicel. Dark brown, 



(a) The inflorescence is characteristic and this alone appears to distinguish this plant 

 from all the other Indian species of the genus. In the latter the inflorescence is developed 

 on the leafy shoots, either in the axils of the upper leaves or at the apex above the leaves. 

 In A. Lathamii, on the other hand, the inflorescence usually appears on the old wood below 

 the leafy shoots, often on stunted leafless branches and only rarely at the lower nodes of 

 the leafy shoots. The two following African species which belong to the same group 

 resemble A. Lathamii more or less in this respect, viz., A. Antune slant , Harms, and 

 A., anthelmintica, A. Brongn. Of the former the author says " pedunculis solitariis vel 

 geminis. ex axillis foliorum delapsorum ortis " (Bot. Jahrb. Vol. XXX, p. 75). Of 

 the latter Bentham says " pedunculi axillares v. ad nodos vetustos breves fasciculati " 

 (Mimosea p. 564), while Oliver (PI. Trop. Afr. ii 357) notes " peduncles fascicled or 

 solitary in the upper axils or from leafless nodes on the older wood." 



(b) The pedicel consists of the constricted basal portions of the calyx, corolla and 

 staminal-tube which adhere closely to the lower part of the stipe of the ovary. The 

 measurements of calyx, corolla and staminal-tube given in the above description do not 

 include this basal portion which is regarded as a part of thejpedicel. 



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