92 WILSON EXPEDITION TO CHINA 



shan Hsien, alt. 1000-1200 m., May 6 and December 1907 (No. 760, 

 in part; tree 13-16 m. tall, girth 0.6-1.6 m., flowers lilac-purple, 

 young foliage silvery). 



On the Kiukiang plain thds is a common tree but it is rare in western Hupeh 

 and has not been reported from Szech'uan. In the neighborhood of Kiukiang it 

 is a large but not a tall tree with a wide-spreading oval or flattened head but in 

 Hupeh the trees are smaller with rather short, spreading branches. The bark is 

 quite smooth and light grey in color. The lilac-purple flowers are greyish pubes- 

 cent on the outside and appear before the leaves. The leaves are silvery when 

 quite young and when fully grown they are pea green and often 60 cm. across. 

 The flattened pods are brown from 7 to 10 cm. long and from 3.5 to 4 cm. wide 

 and are highly esteemed for their saponaceous qualities. An account of the uses 

 of these pods is found in my A Naturalist in Western China, II. 72 (1913). 



The colloquial name for this tree is " Yu-tsao-chio," and pictures will be found 

 under Nos. 510, 513, 687, 688, 052 in the collection of my photographs and in my 

 Vegetation of Western China, Nos. 246-249. E. H. W. 



PTEROLOBIUM R. Br. 



Pterolobium pimctatum Hemsley in Jour. Linn. Soc. XXIII. 207 

 (1887). 



Western Hupeh: Patung Hsien, ravines, alt. 600 m., July and 

 October 1907 (No. 3225; scandent bush, 7 m., flowers yellowish- 

 white); without precise locality, July 1901 (Veitch Exped. No. 2435). 



This thorny, rambling shrub is common at low altitudes on the limestone cliffs 

 of the glens, gorges and ravines throughout western Hupeh. It grows to a large 

 size and is colloquially known as " Chio-pu-t'a." E. H. W. 



CAESALPINIA. 



Caesalpinia sepiaria Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. II. 360 (1824). 



Western Hupeh: Ichang, alt. 30-300 m., April and July 1907 

 (No. 106; semiscandent bush 1-7 m., flowers yellow, abundant); Kui- 

 chou, April 1900 (Veitch Exped. No. 19). Western Szech'uan: 

 Mt. Omei, May 1904 (Veitch Exped. No. 4831). 



At low altitudes this subscandent, thorny shrub is abundant everywhere in 

 western Hupeh and Szech'uan. In spring it bears a profusion of erect, thyrsoid 

 racemes of bright yellow, fragrant flowers and is most conspicuous and beautiful. 

 Colloquially known as the " Yeh-tsao-chio," it is the " Shui tsao-chio " of Chinese 

 Uterature. E. H. W. 



Caesalpinia szechuenensis Craib, n. sp. 



Frutex scandens, 3-metralis; ramuli primo puberuli, mox glabri. 

 Folia bipmnata, ad 18 cm. longa, petiolo 3.8-5 cm. longo ut rhachis 

 puberulo et infra spinis recurvis hie illic instructo suffulta; stipulae 



