LEGUMIKOSAB 233 



14. PELTOPHORUM Vogel 



Unarmed trees with abruptly bipinnate leaves and showy yellow flowers 

 in ample terminal and axillary panicles. Calyx deeply cleft, the lobes 

 imbricate. Petals oblong or roundish, spreading. Stamens 10, free, decli- 

 nate, the filaments with a dense tuft of hairs at the base; anthers uniform. 

 Ovary sessile, free, few-ovuled; stigma l?rge, peltate. Pod oblong, flat, 

 {^dehiscent, winged along both sutures. Greek "shield" and "to bear," 

 from the peltate stigma.) 



Species about 6 in most tropical, countries, 1 in the Philippines. 



1. P. inerme (Roxb.) Naves (P. ferrugineum Benth.), 



A tree usually 8 to 16 m high with a dense crown of spreading branches, 

 the yotinger parts and inflorescence browh-tpmentose. Leaves 25 to 40 cm 

 long; pinnae opposite, 10 to 15 pairs, 5 to 12 cm long; leaflets oblong, 

 10 to 15 pairs, somewhat obliquej obtuse or retuse 10 to 18 mm long. 

 Panicles 10 to 20 cm long. Calyx brew«-tomentose« Petals yellow, obovate, 

 about 2 cm long. Peds oblong, 5 to 8 cm long, glabrous, closely long- 

 "ttlliaiHally veined, 1- to 4-seeded. (Fl. Filip. pi. SS5.) 



Commonly cultivated as a shade-tree, fl. March-April; of local occur- 

 rence along the seashore in the Philippines. Ceylon, through Malaya to 

 northern Australia. 



15. CASSIA Linnaeus 



Erect trees, shrubs,* or herbs. Leaves abruptly pinnate. Flowers* 

 dsually large and showy, in axillary and terminal racemes or panicles. 

 Calyx-tube short, the sepals imbricate. Petals. 5, subequal. Stamens 10, 

 rarely all perfect, 3 to 5 being reduced to staminodes or sometimes absent; 

 anthers mostly basifixed, opening by terminal pores or with the slit more 

 or less continued downward. Ovary sessile' or stalked. Pod very variable, 

 .terete or flat, dehiscent or indehiscent, usually septate between the seeds. 

 (An ancient name, derivation obscure.) 



A very large genus in all tropical regions, and a few species in temperate 

 countries, about 12 in the Philippines. 



1, l^regS. .-- 1. C. siamea 



i. Uridershrubs, shrubs, or suif rutescent herbs. 

 2. Leaves with glands on the common rachis; suffrutescent herbs or 

 undershrubs. 



3. Leaflets obtuse; seeds rhpmbohedral , 2. C. tora 



3. Leaflets acuminate, seeds compressed.' 



■ 4. Plant glabrous or nearly so ..- 3. C. occidentalis 



_ 4. Plant pubescent ; 4. C. hirsuta 



2. Leaves without glands on the rachis; a coarse branched shrub with 

 large leaves, racemose bracteate flowers, and winged pods. 



5 C. alata 

 1. C SIAMEA Lam. (C. florida Vahl). Acacia (Sp.-Fil.). 



A tree 8 to 12 m high, the branches spreading. Leaves equally pinnate, 

 15 to 25 cm long; leaflets 8 to 14, opposite, oblong, obtuse or retuse, 2 to 5- 

 cm long. Panicle large, erect, tjerminal, 15 to 30 cm long, extending into 

 the upper axils, composed of alternate corymbs. Flowers yellow, about 

 2.5 cm in diameter. Stamens 7, the other 3 upper ones reduced to stami- 

 nodes; the lower 3 larger than the lateral ones. Pods nearly straight, thin, 

 flat, 15 to 20 cm long, 1.2 to 1.4 cm wide, containing 15 to 25 seeds. (PI. 

 Pilip. pi. iS6.) 



