THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY, 165 



as having two legumes* ; but the monstrous forms of Gleditschia 

 referred to by De Candolle are said to have two coalescent carpels. 

 Hence Lindley places this order in the neighbourhood of Violacece 

 and conceives it approaches Polygalacece. Others place it between 

 Capparids and Resedacece, to the former of which it is closely 

 allied." 



Passing on to another botanist, although Baillon includes the 

 Moringa series in the nat. ord. Capparidacce, he begins his remarks by 

 saying that the series represented by the Moringa is of somewhat 

 doubtful position among the Capparidacece. Baillon is of opinion that 

 Moringa shows close analogies with Leguminosce, differing essentially 

 only in the number of its parietal placentas ; he says that Cordyla, 

 which belongs to the leguminous series Tounatece or Swartziece, 

 was formerly placed in Capparidacece, and is only distin- 

 guished therefrom by its single placenta. Baillon gives a re- 

 ference to Adansonia (IX, 335) for the enumeration of the 

 different groups to which Moringa has been referred, even 

 bringing it near Monopetace, such as Bignoniacece. I am sorry I 

 have not the means of referring to Adansonia, else I should have been 

 able to make this part of my paper complete. One has to be content 

 in this country with only a few books of reference in the absence of 

 a well-furnished scientific library, and make the most of scanty 

 resources for acquiring scientific knowledge. According to J. Gr. 

 Agardh, the Moringacece, though collateral with the Capparidacece, 

 appear to be more allied to the Leguminosce on account of their 

 pentamerous, nearly symmetrical flowers, and perigynous stamens. 



Le Maout and Decaisnef are more decided in their opinion regard- 

 ing the position of the Moringece among the natural orders. " It is 

 amongst the Capparidece," they say, " that we must search for the 

 real affinities of Moringece." " The genus Moringa" they observe 

 u has been by some botanists placed in Papilionacece on account of 

 a slight resemblance in the flower, which, however, indicates no true 



* A double ovary sometimes occurs as a monstrosity in, Wistaria sinensis, in 

 Gleditschia and in the French bean (Phaseolus'); and a Mimosa with 5 carpels 

 (thus a symmetrical flower) is said to have been seen by St. Hilaire (Henfrey 

 p. 239). 



t Descriptive Botany (translated by Mrs. Hooker), p. 236, 1873. 



