FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 135 
There are numerous ornamental plants belonging to this group, 
though it is a matter for regret that most of them are scarcely hardy 
enough to withstand our temperate climate. Poinciana regia, the royal 
Poinciana, together with many species of Caesalpinia, may be ranked 
among the most showy of tropical trees, whether in flower or fruit (see 
plate, Fig. 117). The large East Indian genus Bauhinia, consisting of 
climbing woody shrubs with curiously bilobed leaves, has handsome 
flowers, often of a delicate rose color. In our own country the redbud 
or Judas-tree (Cercis) yields a 
warm tone to the landscape in 
early spring with its masses of 
purple-pink flowers. 
Valuable balsams are obtained 
from most of the species of Copai- 
fera, while copal gum is derived 
from some species of Hymenaea 
and Trachylobium. A bitter bark, 
known as sassy-bark, is furnished < 
by the African red-water tree, Hry- 
throphloeum guineense; it is used 
for medicinal purposes, and by the 
natives, especially as an ordeal 
bark. Various species of Cassia 
yield the drug senna, while others 
are ornamental shrubs. The tam- 
arind (Tamarindus Indica) affords 
a valuable addition to the tropical 
dietary, the pulp from its pods 
being utilized in all kinds of pre- 
serves, though somewhat unduly 
acid. The fruit of the carob-tree 
(Ceratonia siliqua), native of Af- 
rica, but naturalized in parts of ' Fig. 118. Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus 
. yi dioica); a, young flowering branch, 4, seed pod. 
southern Europe, is also edible. After Chesnut, Bull. No. 20, Div. of Bot. U. S. Dep. 
Finally, valuable timber is yielded °f 48ti« 
by several trees of this group, but particularly by various species of 
Swartzia, natives of South America. The wood of these trees is very 
hard and of a fine grain; it is known as Brazil-wood. Fig. 118 illus- 
trates the Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioica) of our own coun- 
try. At the end of this family is placed by the German systematists a 
somewhat anomalous genus, Krameria, consisting of about a dozen spe- 
cies, ranging from the southwestern States to Chile. The flowers are 
quite irregular, like those of some Cassias, and the fruit, although inde- 
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