Dichrostac/iys.~] LegumillOS(Z. 1 2 f 



ing, i j- if in., broadly oval, acute at base, shortly and bluntly 

 acuminate, glabrous, paler beneath ; fl. as in the last ; pet. 

 lanceolate ; pod 3-5 in. by about f wide, usually much twisted ; 

 seeds 6-10, §-| in., shining, the basal half red, the upper half 

 black. 



Moist low country; rather rare. Kalutara (Moon); Madulla; Mapala- 

 gama. Fl. December, April; greenish-pink. 



Also found at Malacca. 



Moon quotes for this Rumph. Herb. Amboin. iii. t. 212, a doubtful 

 plant not yet clearly identified. 



61. DICHROSTACHYS, IV. and A. 



A bush with spinous branchlets, 1. abruptly bipinnate, fl. 

 very small, in drooping spikes, the lower ones barren ; cal. 

 campanulate, segm. short, triangular, pet. connate for f length 

 from base; stam. 10, free, represented in barren fl. by long 

 staminodes, anth. with a stalked gland on summit, pod linear, 

 flat, indehiscent, somewhat jointed, much twisted up spirally 

 when ripe, 6-10-seeded. — Sp. about 5 ; 1 in Fl. B. Ind. 



D. cinerea, W. and A. Prod. 271 (1834). Andara, 5. Vidat- 

 tal, T. 



Herm. Mus. 24. Burm. Thes. 3. Fl. Zeyl. n. 215. Mimosa cinerea, 

 L. Sp. PI. 520. Desmanthus cinereus, Willd., Moon Cat. J2>- Thw. 

 Enum. 99. C. P. 1523. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 288. Burm. Thes. t. 2. Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 184. Wight, 

 Ic. t. 357. 



A shrub or small tree with numerous divaricate branches, 

 bark yellowish, fibrous, vertically furrowed, ultimate twigs 

 sharply spinous at end, many reduced to short, woody, axil- 

 lary spines, bark yellowish-grey, young parts pubescent ; 1. 

 small, mostly from the suppressed branchlets, rachis l-l| in., 

 slender, hairy, with a small erect gland between the bases of 

 each pair of pinnae, pinnae 8-16 pair, |-| in., sessile, hairy, 

 lflts- minute, numerous 24-40 (12-20 pair), closely placed, 

 sessile, linear, oblique, subacute; fl. numerous, sessile, crowded 

 in dense spikes about 1 in. long on drooping peduncles 

 coming off from the suppressed branchlets below the L, bracts 

 minute setaceous ; cal. pubescent, stam. much exceeding cor., 

 staminodes much longer (nearly \ in.) filiform; ov. hairy; pod 

 2-3 in. by # in. wide, glabrous, dark brown. 



Dry region ; very common ; and in the most barren places. Fl. Dec- 

 Mar' h, Aug., Sept. ; barren fl. bright purplish-pink, fertile ones yellow. 



Also in India, Malay Islands, N. Australia, and (?) Trop. Africa. 



'I he tassel-like, particoloured, drooping flower-spikes are very pretty, 

 and a noticeable feature in the stunted jungle in desert places. 



