98 



LEGUMINOS/K. [Cosda. 



32. CASSIA, Linn. 



Sepals 5, somewhat unequal, scarcely connected at the base. Petals 5, 

 usuaUy unequal, spreading. Stamens usually 10, either aU equal and fertile 

 or the upper ones smaH and sterile, with 2 or more of the lower fertile ones 

 much larger. Anthers, when fertile, opening at the end only, in-pores or short 

 slits. Ovaiy with several ovules. Pod cylindi-ical or flattened, usually long, 

 but variously shaped. Seeds usually oblong and transverse, with a small 

 quantity of albumen. Eadicle short and straight.— Herbs, shrubs, or trees. 

 Leaves abruptly pinnate, the leaflets opposite. 



A large genus, widely distributed within the tropics, but jarticulaxly numerous in South 

 America. 

 Sepals obtuse. Upper stamens small and sterile. 



Leaflets 4 to 6 pair, acute. A gland near the base of the petiole . I. C. occidentalis. 



Leaflets 2 to 3 pair, very obtuse. A gland between the leaflets of the 



lowest pair . . 2. (7. tora. 



Sepals acute. ' Stamens all fertile. Leaflets numerous .... 3. C. mimosoides: 



1. C. occidentalis, Liun.; Vog. Syn. Cass. 21 ; Bol. Reg. t. 83. An 

 erect glabrous annual, 3 to 5 ft. high, sometimes hard at the base, so as to 

 appear woody. Leaflets 4 to 6 pair, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 1 or 2 in. 

 or in luxuriant specimens 3 in. long, with an ovate gland on the petiole near 

 the base. Eacemes terminal, short and few-flowered, with occasionally a few 

 flowers on short pedicels in the upper axils, llowers yellow. Two of the 

 anthers large, oblong, 4 or 5 others like them, but smaler, the 3 uppennost 

 small and sterile. Pod linear, slightly curved, 3 to 5 in. long, about 3 lines 

 broad, at first flat, with the edges thickened, but becoming at length nearly as 

 thick as broad. 



Common in waste places, Hance and others. "Widely dispersed, as » weed, over the 

 warmer regions of the globe, especially in America and Africa. 



2. C. tora, Linn.; Vog.Syn. Cass. 23. An annual, of 1 to about 3 ft., 

 spreading or erect^the stem nearly glabrous. Leaflets 2 or 3 pair, ovate- 

 cuneate, obtuse, mucronate, 1 in. long or rather more, usually pubescent under- 

 neath, with a cylindrical gland between the leaves" of the 1 or 2 lower pair. 

 Flowers yellow, usually 2 together in the upper axils. Anthers 7 fertile, 3 

 very small and abortive. Pod very naiTOw, nearly quadrangular, 4 to 8 in. 

 long, straight or slightly curved. — 0. oMusifolia, Linn. ; Vog. Syn. Cass. 24. 



Hongkong, Bance. A common weed in tropical Asia and some parts of America. 



3. C mimosoides, Linn. ; Vog. Syn. Cass. 68. An annual or perennial 

 of short duration, with a hard often almost woody base, and numerous diffuse 

 or ascending wiry stems, 1 to li ft. long, more or less pubescent. Leaves 1| 

 to 2 in. long. Leaflets numerous (20 to 50 pair), linear-falcate, and mucro- 

 nate, seldom above 2 lines long. Pedicels axillary, solitary or several toge- 

 ther, unequal, but seldom above ^ in. long. Sepals about 3 lines long and 

 very acute. Petals yellow, scarcely longer. Pod linear, flat, 1^ to 2 in. long, 

 scarcely 2 lines broad, slightly curved or oblique. — C. angustissima. Lam. 



Victoria Peak and other localities. Champion and others. Widely spread over tropical 

 Asia and Africa, and difficult to distinguish from some of the common species of the Chmee- 

 cnsta section from tropical America. 



Several shrubby Cairn'os, and especially the C. tomentosa, are said to be much planted in 

 the gardens and about the houses of the Chinese. 



