Plants Collected in Paraguay. 87 



nate, with 5-7 pairs of leaflets. Flowers in racemes 8-10 cm. long-, 

 bluish-purple. Legume pluricelled, 2-8 cm. long and 6 or 7 mm. 

 wide, grayish-downy, containing 1-6 long yellowish beans marked 

 by the hilum, which is surrounded by a large aureole. This tree 

 occurs in the Chaco, opposite Asuncion, and east of the city in open 

 grounds. 



Geoflfroya striata (Willd.), Moroiig. 



Rohinia striata, Willd., Sp. PL, iii, 1132 (1803). 



Geoffroya superba, H. and B., PL ^quin., ii, 69, t. 100 (1809). 



Pilcomayo River (888). January-April. 



This is one of the most noticeable trees on the Pilcomayo. It 

 sometimes attains a height of 13 m., with long, horizontal branches 

 stretching out over the river, on the borders of which it grows. 

 Bark rugged and dark colored, the wood very hard, not good for 

 timber, as it is knotty and seldom over 10 or 15 cm. in diameter. 

 Flowers in small axillary racemes, yellow, and leguminous in struc- 

 ture. This would hardly be supposed from the fruit, which is not 

 a legume, but a drupe or stone-fruit. When fully ripe, this is from 

 2J to 4 cm. in length, flattened-oval in shape, with a green, rather 

 thick downy husk or rind, which turns yellowish when mellow, 

 enclosing a thin, sweetish, edible pulp. The seed is a hard-shelled 

 nut, nearly as large as the fruit, irregularly grooved. This con- 

 tains a kernel which is much like an almond in shape and color. 

 We tried roasting these stones in the fire, and found the meat quite 

 pleasant to the taste. This in all probability gives the popular 

 name to the tree, *'Mani de los Indios" or Indian peanut, as it 

 certainly has little resemblance to the peanut in any other respect. 



The plant is curiously intermediate between the Leguminosse and 

 the Rosaceae, in all respects belonging to the former by its flowers 

 and to the latter by its fruit. The stones, however, do not dehisce 

 along the edges as in the peach, but along the middle of the two 

 flattish sides. It might well be regarded as belonging to a distinct 

 order from the Leguminosse. So far as the leaves are concerned, 

 they might belong to either family. This tree was very abundant 

 upon the part of the Pilcomayg between the Junta and the Falls, 

 and we often gathered the fruit. I found only a few flowers, as we 

 were a little too late in the season for them. 



