1*.M CONTRIBUTIONS PROM l ill NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



i ruadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia Grisebach), St. Vincent (do.). Tropical 

 America and western Africa. 



This planl grows, chiefly near the seashore and is noticeable on account of its short, 

 sharply recurved spines and its pod, which is so benl that the point touches th< 



! cal Dames, palod* hoz t escomoron. 



47. PTEROCARPUS I . 



PUrocarpxu L. 8p. PI. ed. 2. 2: 1662. I7<;:i. 

 Moutovchi A i bl. PI. Gui. 2: 748. pi. ."■>'■>. 177."). 

 )£outouckia Benth. Ann. Wien Mus. 2: 94. 183J 



Calyx campanulate, often incurved, narrowed at the base, the two upper teeth 

 more or less connate; standard broadly ovate or Buborbicular; wings obliquely 

 obovate or oblong; keel with its petals resembling <»r shorter than the wings, free or 



shortly connate on the back; stamens all connate in a .-heath slit above or both above 

 and below, <»r the upper one free; ovary Bessile or Btipitate, 2 to 6-ovulate; style fili- 

 form, Blightly incurved; Btigma small, terminal; pod compressed, indehiscent, orbicu- 

 lar <>r broadly ovate, more or less oblique, the Btyle lateral or terminal, seminiferous 

 in the cent errand there more or less incrassated, with a wing round the border; 



s Is 1 or 2, oblong <>r subreniform, it 2 separated by a hard septum. -Trees; leaves 



imparipinnate, leaflets alternate or almosl opposite; flowers usually showy, yellow, 

 rarely white or violet, in terminal or axillary, simple or compound racemes; bracts 

 and bracteoles small, caducous. 



1. Pterocarpus officinalis .lacq." 

 (Urban, 296.) 



Trees 25 to 30 meters high; leaflets ."> to '.». alternate, ovate or oblong, acuminate, 

 shiny. 5 to |u cm. long, 3 to 5.2 cm. wide, the veins on both Bides conspicuous, Bub- 

 coriaceous, glabrous, the pel iolules <i mm. long; (lowers in compound racemes, yellow; 

 calyx Btrongly oblique, I to 5 mm. deep, turning black in drying; corolla L.3 cm. 

 lorn:: standard violet -colored on the edge, at the middle; pod glabrous, Btipitate, 

 corky-rugose, with a very oblique axis. L-seeded, surrounded l>y a narrow wing, 

 which is less distinct on the carinal edge, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter; wing 6.5 to 8.5 mm. 

 broad on vexillar edge. 



Near Bayamon in swampy localities; sierra de Luquillo, in the wood- of Mount 

 Jimenez; near Mayaguez. — Jamaica (Grisebach), Guadeloupe, Dominica. St. Lucia, 

 St. Vincent, Trinidad. Tropical America. Central America. 



From Pterocarpus officinalis, the only species found in Porto Rico, is obtained a 

 kind of kino known as '■American dragon's Mood."' The tree is tapped and the Bap 

 collected, which when dried in the sun forms a hard mass that is used in medicine 

 a- an astringenl and in Canning and dyeing. Large pieces of the Bubetance are dark 

 red, while smaller piece- are transparent. 



Local name, palo <l< polio. 



48. LONCHOCARPUS If' B. K. 



Lonchocarpus II. B. K. Nov. Gen. A: Sp. 6: 383. L823. 

 Spliinctolobium Voo. Linnaea 11: -117. is;;:. 

 Neuroscapha Ti i.. Ann. 8c. Nat. II. 20: L37. L843. 



Calyx often oupul iform. truncate, the teeth very short or wanting; standard orbicu- 

 lar, obovate. more rarely oblong, with l> auricle- at the base above the claw; wings 

 obliquely oblong or falcate. Blightly adhering to the keel above the claw; keel arcuate 



a Cook and Collins, p. 226, as Pterocarpus draco. 



