180 ONTBIBUTIONS PBOM l ill. NATIONAL BEBBABIUM. 



retuse-mucronulate, irritable; racemes short . few-flowered, 4 times or m led by 



the l<a\ ee; flowers 1 .2 cm. long, ol i dull yellow ; calj \ one-third a- lor.^ as the corolla; 

 teeth subulate; standard dotted with purple; Legume 20 to 25 cm. long, compn 

 at length biconvex, nol torulose, Bhortly beaked, Blightly depressed, tumid on both 

 margins. 



Near Guanica in the water o! 1 1 * * - lagoon; Dear tfayaguez, along roads in coast districts 

 near Algarroboand around the fortress; uear Afiasco in moist meadows at Qatillo. 

 Bahama, Jamaica, Hani. St. Thomas, Antigua Grisebach r Guadeloupe, Martinique. 



3. Sesbaniu occidentalis (Willd P 

 Urban, 



Onderehrub, stem angular, Buffrutescent or ahrubby, l' i<» ;; meters high; Leaflets \- 

 \>> 20-jugate, slightly irritable; flowers yellow or orange-colored, with red Lines, the 

 standard dotted with purple; Legume 20 t<> 25 cm. 1 « »mz- 5 to •; nun. wide, compn 

 ai Length biconvex; Beeds separated by spurious dissepiments. 



Near Ponce in ditches and in moist 1< mmI it i«>; uear Guanica, in the water of the bay 

 opposite I.a Plata; uear Cabo Rojo around the hacienda Carmelita; near Alayaguez, 

 on the sides of ditches in Cuesta de las Piedras. -Cuba, Haiti. Trinidad (Grisebach |. 

 [ndigenous in the West Indies. 



Although the difference in the size of the leaves and the form of the Leaflets between 

 Sesbania occidentalis and S. grandiflora is very Blight, the difference in the size of the 

 flowers is very noticeable, those of S. grandiflora being at least •"> times as large as those 

 of S. •" cidt ntalis. 



Local name, sesbania. 



1. Sesbania aegyptiaca Pers. 



[Jrban, 28 



An crcci. copiously branched, pale green L r lal>n>n> Bhrub, L.5 t" 2.5 meters, even 3 

 meters high; leaves nearly Bessile, the unarmed rachis on the upper ones 5 to 10 cm. 

 long; leaflets 1<» to 20-jugate, glabrous, glaucous green, reaching 2.5 cm. in length, 1 

 mm. broad, blunt with a faint mucro; peduncles 2.5 to'5 cm. long; racemes lax. <; to 

 12-flowered; pedicels spreading, 0.4 to 0.8 cm. long; calyx 0.4 cm. long, glabrous, the 

 teeth very Bhort, deltoid-cuspidate; corolla bright yellow, L.25 cm. long, the round 

 emarginate standard L.25 cm. broad, more or less dotted with purple; pod L5 to 20 cm. 

 Long, :'. i" ! mm. thick, distinctly torulose, 20 to 30-seeded, the valves rounded on the 

 hack. 



Near Coamo between Serillos and Salinas. — Cuba, Jamaica (Grisebach). South- 

 eastern North America, warmer regions of Africa, tropical Asia, and North Australia. 



The wood of this plant is soft and fibrous bul rather close-grained, the weighl 75 

 pounds to the cubic foot. En the Deccan, s<sh<nii<i <i< gyptiaca, is grown to furnish poles 

 as a substitute for bamboo, and it is often utilized while growing to shade and support 

 the pepper vines and various cucurbitaceous plants. In Assam the soft, pithy stems are 

 platted into mats, portions of them being dyed black before being matted so as to work 

 out a hold pattern. It is. in Bengal, in common useasa hedge plant, for which purpose 

 it- very quick growth render- it suitable. The hark is made into rope, according to 

 Brandis. Seeds, root, juice of the bark, leaves, and flowers arc \\<^y\ medicinally. 

 The leaves and young branches are cul for fodder. 



38. PICTETIA DC. 

 I'lrh tia DC. Bibl. Univ. Geneve 29: !<». >- 



Calyx with unequal slender Lobes, the two upper ones short and obtuse, the three 

 lower Longer and acuminate; petals shortly unguiculate; standard Buborbicular; 



