264 XLV. LEGUMINOS^ [Acacia 



A thorny shrub ; spines straight, stipular. Common petiole li-2 in. ; 

 pinnae 4-8 pair ; cup-shaped glands below the lowest and often at the base of 

 the uppermost pair; leaflets 10-20 pair. Fl. bright yellow, sweet-scented, 

 in globose fasciculate heads. Pod nearly cylindric, pointed at the ends, scarcely 

 dehiscent, glabrous, valves with raised parallel lines ; seeds embedded in dry 

 sjtongy tissue. 



Indigenous in America, "but naturalized throughout India and Burma. Fl. Jan- 

 March. 



2. A. planifrons, W. et A.; Trimen Handbook Ceylon t. 35, The Umbrella 

 Thorn. Vern. Godugu TJiumma,' Tel. ; Kodaivelam, Jali Salei, Tarn. 



A middle-sized tree, crown flat, spreading, umbrella-like. Spines of two 

 kinds on the same branch : (a) long (1-2 in.), cylindric, ivory white, (&) short, 

 slightly curved, brown. L. small, fasciculate, with the fl. on arrested 

 branchlets ; pinnae \ in. long, 3-5 pair ; leaflets 6-10 pair, minute, obtuse. Fl. 

 heads yellow in bud, white when open ; peduncles slender, ^-§ in. long. Pod 

 2-3 in. long, glabrous, nearly cylindrical, curved nearly into a ring. 



Southern Deccan : Salem, Madura, Tinnevelli, often gregarious. Fl. March. Prain 

 in Journ. As. Soc. Bengal 66, (1898), 506, mentions a species from Southern India 

 different from 2, possibly A. Roxburghii, W. et A. This is not known to me. 



3. A. arabica, Willd. ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 47. — Syn. Mimosa arabica, Lam. ; 

 Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 149. Vern. Babul, Hind. ; Kikar, Pb. ; Bamura, Jabalp. ; 

 Babar, Sind ; Jali, Kan. ; Nellatuma, Tel. ; Karu Velam, Tarn. 



A large tree ; bark rough with deep narrow longitudinal fissures ; heart-wood 

 pale red, when fresh cut nearly colourless, on exposure turning reddish-brown. 

 Stipular spines straight, |-2 in. long. Pinnae 3-6 pair, cup-shaped glands 

 at the base of the lowest, and generally also of the uppermost pair ; leaflets 

 small, linear, 10-20 pair. Fl. golden-yellow, in globose heads, \ in. diam. ; 

 peduncles slender, fasciculate ; a pair of scaly bracts in the middle. Pod 

 solitary, moniliform, much contracted between seeds at both sutures, whitish- 

 tomentose, stalk |-fin. long. 



Indigenous in Sind and the Northern Deccan, including Berar and Khandeish. Culti- 

 vated and naturalized throughout India, except in the most humid regions on the western 

 coast and in the extreme North-West beyond the Jhelam, where the frost is too severe in 

 winter. Tropical Africa, Arabia. Gregarious. Babul forests are extensive in lower Sind 

 along the Indus, and in the Deccan along the Purua, Bhima and Kistna rivers and their 

 tributaries. Fl. B. S. and C. S ; never leafless, the young foliage comes out in 

 Febr. and April. The pods are an excellent cattle-fodder. Gum exudes largely from 

 wounds in the bark. 



A remarkable variety is the Kaulia or Koiori Babul in Berar and Khandeish, called 

 Yedi Babul in Poona, Sholapur and Satara. The spines are white, very stout, up 

 to 2J in. long, the pod is flat, on short stalks, f in. broad and very little constricted 

 between the seeds. In these districts the ordinary form with moniliform pods is 

 called Telia or Qodi Babul, its wood is prized, while that of the Kaidia is considered 

 only fit for firewood. The bark of the Kaidia is more deeply cracked and exfoliating 

 and the crown is formed of twisted interlacing branches. In Africa and Arabia also 

 arabica varies greatly. 



4. A. eburnea, Willd.; Trimen Handbook Ceylon ii. 124. — Syn. Mimosa 

 eburnea, Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 199. Vern. Marmot, Mar. ; Odai, Tarn. 



A large shrub or small tree. Branches armed with straight stipular spines, 

 mostly stout, ivory-white and 1-2 in. long. L. small, clothed with long hairs ; 

 pinnae 4-8 ; leaflets 8-12 pair, acute. Fl. yellow, with an unpleasant 

 smell ; heads under | in. diam., fasciculate, reddish-brown while in bud ; mem- 

 branous bracts below the middle of the peduncle. Pods linear, slender, flat, 

 veined, generally 2-4 from one fl. head, 2-5 in. long, edges undulate. 



Trans -Indus, Baluchistan. Salt range, Subhimalayan tract and outer valleys, 

 ascending to 3,000 ft., east as far as Oudh. Sind. The Deccan. Fl. Nov.-March. Dry 

 region of Cevlon. 



