302 LEGUMINOSM. [G^8ALPiKa. 



61. CiESALPINIA, Linn.; Fl. Brit. Ihd. ii, 254. 



Robust erect trees, shrubs, or woedy prickly climbers. Leaves 

 large, abruptly bipinuate. Flowers showy, yellow, in copious axillary 

 racemes. Calyx deeply cleft, with the disk contined to its base, the 

 lobes imbricated, the lowest the largest, cucu Hate. Petals spreading,, 

 usually orbicular with a distinct claw, the uppermost smaller than the 

 others. Stamens 10, free, declinate ; anthers oblong, uniform, versa- 

 tile. Ovary sessile or subsessile, few-ovuled ; style filiform, some- 

 times clubbed at the tip ; stigma terminal. Pod oblong or ligulate, 

 thin and flat, or thicker and subturgid, indehiscent or dehiscent, 

 smooth or (in subgenus Guilandina) armed all over with wiry spines. 

 — Species about 40, widely spread in the tropics of both hemispheres. 



Pod densely covered with flexible wiry prickles 1. C. Bonducella. 

 Pod unarmed, glabrous . . . . . 2. C, sepiaria. 



1. C. Bonducella, Flem. in As. Res. xi {1810), 159; Roxh. Fl. Ind. ii, 

 357 ; Brand. For. Fl. 156 ; F. B. I. ii., 254 ; Watt E. D. Guilandina Bonduc, 

 W. 4- A. Prod. 280 J Boyle III. 184; D. ^ Q. Bomb. Fl. 79 (in part).— 

 Vern. Katlcaranj. (Fever-nut.) 



A scandent shruh, with the branches petioles and rachis of inflorescence 

 armed with short hard yellow pricldes. Leaves 12-18 in. long ; prickles 

 onirachis and its branches recurved and usually in pairs ; stipules (? re- 

 duced pinnas) 2-fid ; pinnae. 6-8 pairs ; leaflets opposite, 6-10 pairs, ^ in. 

 long, very shortly stalked, oblong, obtuse, mucronate, membranous, 

 downy beneath. Racemes axillary, simple or panicled, denser towards 

 the top ; pedicels downy ; bracts linear, recurved at the apex, and pro- 

 jecting beyond the buds, caducous. Calyx 5-| in. long, rusty-tomentose. 

 Petals twice the calyx, yellow, the upper one smaller and sometimes 

 spotted with red. Pod 2-3 in., oblong, densely armed on the faces with 

 sharp wiry prickles, dehiscent. Seeds 1 or 2, globose or ovoid, f in. long, 

 lead-coloured, shining. 



A common plant over the greater portion of the area, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of villages. Disteib. Throughout India and cosmopo- 

 litan in the tropics. Flowers during the rainy season. The root-bark, 

 seeds and leaves are used medicinally. The seeds are very bitter, and 

 are much used by the natives as a tonic and febrifuge. The hard nuts 

 or seeds ^ve made into bracelets, necklaces and rosaries. 



2. C. sepiaria, Boxb. Mort. Beng. 32; Fl. Ind. ii, 360; W. ^ A. Prod. 

 282 ; D.Sf G. Bomb. Fl. 80 ; Brand. For. Fl. 156; F. B. I. ii, 256; Watt 

 E.D.—Yevn. Uru, alai (Dehra Dun), aila (Oudh).— Mysore thorn. 



A large prickly climber, armed with short strong recurved pale-brown 

 prickles. Branches downy. Leaves about 1 ft. long ; stipules semi- 

 sagittate, deciduous ; pinnce 6-10 pairs ; leaflets opposite, 8-12 pairs, |-f 

 in. long, shortly stalked, oblong, obtuse, dark-green and glabrous above, 

 glaucous beneath. Racemes about 1 ft. long, peduncled, simple ; pedicels 



