45b' D. Prain — Some additional Leguminosa?. [No. 2 



88. PONGAMIA Vent. 



PoNGAMIA GLABRA Vent. 



Vak. typica ; leaflets usually 5, occasionally 7, oblong or ovate, 

 2-5-3-5 in. wide, quite glabrous beneath ; racemes always solitary simple, 

 pedicels '35 in. long, their bracteoles only subopposed and situated 

 slightly above the middle. (Synonyms as in F. B. I. with in addition 

 P. grandifolia Zoll. 8f Mor. Syst. Verzeich. 3 ; Miq. Flor. Ind. Bat. i. 147. 

 P. mitis Kurz, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xlv. 2. 128.— Rumph. Herb. Amboin. 

 iii. t. 117. — Lamh. III. t. 603 (Pungamia). 



Sea-coasts ; Banks of Tidal rivers and mangrove swamps on all 

 the coasts : only occurs inland as a planted species. 



Var. xerocarpa ; leaflets 7-9, very rarely 5, lanceolate, 1-1-35 in. 

 wide, usually sparingly puberulous on the midrib and main-nerves 

 beneath, racemes occasionally 2-3 in. an axil, sometimes sparingly 

 branched, pedicels *25 in. long the bracteoles opposed and placed close 

 under calyx. P. xerocarpa Hassh. Retz., ed. nov., 208. 



Ceylon ; Thwaites 1489 ! Pahang ; Ridley ! Kedah ; Kunstler I 

 Perak ; Kunstler I Malacca ; Berry ! Distrib. ; Java. 



This well known littoral species is the Pangam of the Tamils, the Karanj of 

 Hindustan, the Thin-win of the Burmese, the Malapari of the Malays. 



It never climbs and only occurs inland as a planted tree on roadsides or in village 

 groves ; its timber is in use for making oil-mills in Northern India, solid cart-wheels 

 in Southern India. The seeds yield the well-known " Karanj -oil," which is burned 

 and is also used in skin complaints. 



The typical variety occurs in two rather distinct forms that pass into each other, 

 however, by all sorts of intermediates. These are : — 1, a form with medium-sized 

 leaflets and flowers (the original P. glabra) found everywhere ; and 2, a form with 

 decidedly larger leaflets and flowers (P. grandifolia Zoll. & Mor.) that, beginning in 

 Chittagong, passes southwards through Arracan, the Andamans, the Nicobars, and 

 Sumatra to Java, being evidently the most usual form along the whole line of dis- 

 tribution indicated ; it nevertheless seems neither to extend westward to the Sundri- 

 buns and India, nor eastwards to Tenasserim and the Malay Peninsula. 



The plant here treated as var. xerocarpa was treated as a species by Hasskarl ; 

 an authentic example of his plant is preserved in Herb. Calcutta. The diagnosis 

 now given shows that the characters which separate it from the type are individually 

 trivial ; yet it is, in general appearance, so unlike the type that there is some diffi- 

 culty at first in believing them to be conspecfic. On the other hand, this particular 

 variety so closely resembles a species described as Millettia decipiens by the writer, 

 and another described as Pongarnia dehiscens (which is however also a Millettia) by 

 Koorders and Valeton, that when no more than flowers are available it requires a 

 careful examination of the ovary, (4-5-ovuled in the Millettias, only 2-ovuled in the 

 Pongarnia) to ensure accurate diagnosis. The fruits of the Pongarnia are, however, 

 exceedingly unlike the pods of the Millettias. 



The name of this genus has been much debated. The question has been 

 whether the name Pongam, proposed in 1763 by Adanson, modified by Lamarck in 

 1797 into Pungamia, and finally corrected by Ventenat in 1803 into Pongarnia, is or is 



