PERKINS I III". LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. ID i 



Leaflets multi jugate, very bid all. 



Leaves subcoriaceous; Leaflets 6 or 7. rarel) : > to II- 

 jugate, oblique, oblong-linear, rounded at the Cop, 

 8 to L5 nun. long, 2 to l mm. wide, glandular; pe- 

 duncle 1 or 2-flowered; legume linear, hairy. L3. C. pari 

 Leaves membranous. 



Glands Btipitate; leaves obtuse or subacute; 

 costa usually in the middle. 



I..;i\ es large, 7.5 cm. long; leaflets I . I cm. 

 long, 2 mm. \\ ide; common pel iole and 

 legume thinly « lothed with white hairs; 

 legume 1.5 cm. long, 5 mm. wide. 11. C. glandulosa. 



I mall 2.5 cm. long; leaflets 5 mm. 



long, I mm. wide; common pel wile and 

 gjume glabrous; legume 2.5 cm. long, 3 

 mm. wide. 15. ( *.l His. 



Glands sessile or shortly stipitate; leaves nar- 

 rower, mostly acute; costa more eccentric. L6. C. nictitans. 



1. Cassia fistula L. 

 Urban, 272. 



Tree 7 to 20 meters high; flowers in lax drooping racemes, yellow, large; pedicels 

 long; calyx segments oval or oval-oblong, 1 cm. long, obtuse; petals ovate, 2 to 2.5 cm. 

 1 < > 1 1 lt : legume pendulous. Flowering in June, fruiting in January. 



Cultivated and Beemingly wild uear Bayamon; in the Sierra de Luquillo, on the 

 lower slopes of Mount Jimenez near dwellings; near Mayaguez, at Algarrobo. Cuba 

 (Grisebach , Jamaica, Haiti. St. Croix (Eggers), St. Bartholomew Euphrasen , Gaude- 

 loupe, Martinique, St. Vincent, Bequia (Kew Bull. no. 81, p. 248), Trinidad, Mar- 

 garita. Tropical Asia, frequently planted, bu1 also truly indigenous; in tropical 

 Africa cultivated or escaped from cultivation and possibly indigenous; in America 

 only where planted. 



Cassia fistula and C. grandis an- closely related. Both an- noticeable on account of 

 their long simple racemes. C. fistula differs from other Porto Rican Cassia species in 

 its \ ery large leaves and in it- long pendulous legumes. The latter are cylindrical in 

 form and contain a dark brown, soft, agreeable-tasting pulp that has a Blightly ; 

 tive action. This fruit . called ■■manna." is considered a delicacy especially by chil- 

 dren. The hark furnishes a black dye. and is employed in tanning leather, while the 

 wood i- valuable for many purposes. 



Local naiiK . cafiajistula. 



2. Cassia grandis 1.. f. 



1 roan. 272.) 



Tree l.") i.. L'o meter- high; flowers in drooping, axillary rusty-pubescenl racemes; 

 calyx segments rather wide. 6 i" 8.5 mm. long, obtuse; petals suborbicular, 1 cm. in 

 diameter: legume 15 to 60 cm. long, transversely rugul 



Indigenous ami cultivated, near I'« Quelas at Tallaboa Aha: near Yauco, "ii declivi- 

 ties "ii the hank^ of the Duey River-a1 Mounl Rodadero; near Mayaguez; near 

 Baja. Cuba (Richard), Jamaica (Bentham . Haiti. St. Thomas I'- ere ^ .«'r<>ix 

 id". t Guadeloupe. < Jentral America. Ecuador, New Grenada, Surinam. San Domingo, 

 Jamaica, and perhaps North Brazil. 



This differs from ( '. fistula, the only other species in Porto Rico belonging to the sub- 

 genus and section Fistula DC, in the rusty pubescence of its racemes, and in it- much 

 smaller, multijugate leaflet 3. 



