THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 163 



for many years in the service of the African Company, at the Colony 

 of Sierra Leone."* Cathartocarpus javanicus, a native of Java, as 

 the name indicates, is another of the leguminous plants bearing 

 pink flowers, which has a many-celled pod.t Cassia fistula, our 

 well-known Bahama plant, so familiar in the Konkan and striking- 

 ly beautiful, with its dense, long, bright yellow panicles, reminding 

 one of the poet's " Laburnum drooping gold," bears a long woody pod, 

 which botanists are accustomed to describe as spuriously many-celled. 

 The spurious dissepiments in this pod, be it noted, are horizontal 

 and regularly arranged between each seed as it lies imbedded in a 

 black honey-sweet pulp. Such are the deviations of the fruit among 

 the Leguminosce from the normal one-celled ovary. 



To resume our reference to Lindley, " it has, however, always 

 seemed to me," says he, " that the resemblance which botanists have 

 found with leguminous order, are " (? is— K. R. K.) " trifling, while 

 the discrepancies are of the first importance. For example, the habit 

 of the plant consists of a doubly pinnated foliage, which would do as 

 well for Roseworts, or Citronworts, or Rueworts ;% the declinate 

 stamens are found in Rueworts, Milkworts, Capparids, and many 

 others ; and as to the pod-like form of the fruit, it is not worth 

 a thought. The objections are that the sepals' are of the same 

 texture as the petals, the anthers one-celled, the ovary composed of 

 three carpels which have not the power of turning inward their sides 

 so as to form dissepiments, and that the attachment of the carpel is 

 strictly parietal. It is true that the latter circumstance will not be 

 so much at variance with the leguminous structure as it appears to 

 be, if it should be proved that the sutural and parietal placentation 

 are of the same nature, which seems to be the fact. But connected 

 as it is with other points of difference, and considering that it is 

 parietal placentation in excess, it appears to be of considerable 

 moment. This has always led me to regard the Moringads as members 

 of some great parietal alliance and as claimants of a nearer affinity 



* Op- cit., -p. 347, 1829. 

 f °P- ci t., p. 339, 1829. 



% Note that both the Citronworts and Eueworts of Lindley are now classed under 

 one head called the Rutacece — (K. E. K.) 



