’ 
500 The Botanical Gazette. [December, 
Uvaria crinata, a rather insignificant looking shrub, de- 
serves mention because of its long dense cylindrical racemes 
of beautiful pink flowers, and the peculiar habit of the pedi- 
cels curving inwards after flowering, and pressing the three 
to five jointed short pods firmly against the strong rachis. I 
have never seen more dense and enduring racemes of delicate 
and beautiful flowers than those of this plant. It is certainly 
worthy of wide introduction as an ornamental plant. 
Among the twining Papilionaceze no species is more deli- 
cate and retiring than the wild licorice plant, Abrus precator- 
zus. It is sometimes grown as an ornament around native 
dwellings, partly on account of the flowers and partly on ac- 
count of the bright scarlet seeds which have a black spot 
around the hilum. The seeds are prized as ornaments, and. 
are used by jewelers and druggists as one grain weights. 
There is a strong taste of licorice noticeable in the leaves and 
stem but especially in the roots, which, judging from the 
large amounts seen in the shops, are extensively used for the 
Same purpose as the true licorice root. 
Several species of Ciitorta and Canavalia are quite inter- 
esting, but space will not permit a description. Before no- 
ticing some of the more prominent species of Cesalpinee, I 
must mention the shrubby Flemiugia strobilifera, which 
grows in clumps resembling the American hazel bush in gen- 
eral appearance. The inflorescence consists of many flowers 
arranged along each side of a zigzag rachis. The one to 
three flowered peduncles are enclosed within broad persistent 
bracts, which in many cases effect a complete exclusion of in- 
sects at the time of flowering. 
Of the Czsalpinez, the most beautiful and probably the 
best known to the world of all the trees in Siam, the teak eX- 
cepted, is the Poinciana regia. Truly queenly, the prevailing 
and almost glaring scarlet of its myriads of flowers is delight- 
fully softened by the pale yellow of a single petal in each, 
and by the rich green of the large, feathery, minutely di- 
vided, compound leaves. This tree with its wide-spreading 
branches can be seen at a great distance, and although in all 
probability an introduction of many decades past, it has 
taken a firm hold upon the hearts of the flower-loving Siam- 
ese. From a distance the flowering tree strikingly resembles 
a large fire, which resemblance, no doubt, gave origin to its: 
Siamese name, ‘the flame of the forest.” 
