Sesha7}ta] XLV. LEGUMINOSiE 219 



minute or wanting. Calyx broacl-campannlate, witli sliort nearly equal teetli. 

 Pod long, linear, dehiscent, seeds numerous, separated by distinct transverse 

 bars. Species 20, in tbe tropical and sub-tropical regions of both bemisplieres. 



1. S. aegyptiaca, Pers.; Fl, Brit. Ind. ii. IM; Wight Ic. t. 32. Yern. 

 Jcunfj Hind. ; Jmjanfl^ Beng. ; Shetcrl, Mar. ; Ye-tha-yyi^ Burm. 



A small soft-wooded tree, 8-12 ft. high. Common petiole 4-6 in, long, 

 leaflets 10-20 pair, linear-oblong. PI. \ in. long, in lax 6-12 flowered racemeb, 

 nearly as long as leaves. Petals yellow or orange and purple. Pod 6-8 in. 

 long, valves convex, torulose. 



Commonly planted and naturalized. In the Pan jab as far as Pebliawar, ascending to 

 4,000 ft. in the N.-W. Himalaya. Cultivated thronghoiit the tropics, wild in tropical 

 Africa. The wood makes good charcoal for giinxoowder. 



2. S. grandiflora, Pers. ; PL Brit. Ind. ii. 115. Tern. Basna, Hind. ; 

 Bakctj Beng. ; AgasJil, Mar. ; Agclti, Tarn. 



Attains 20-30 ft. Common petiole 6-d in. long, leaflets 10-30 pair, oblong, 

 glaucous, 1-1 1 in. long. Eacemes short, fl. 2-4, 3 in. long, red or white. 

 Pod 10-12 in. long, I in. broad, compressed, tetragonous. 



Cultivated m tropical India as a support for the Betel vine, for firewood and liouse- 

 postt, : in the Ganges Doab chiefly for ornament. 



7. MUNDULEA, DC. ; PI. Brit. Ind. ii. 110. 

 (12 species, of which 11 in Madagascar.) 



M. suberosa, Benth.—Syn. Teplirosla biiherosa^ DC. ; Wight 111. t. 82 (79). 



A small tree, with pale corky bark, branchlets and underside of leaves 

 clothed with short silky hairs. Leaves imparipinnate, leaflets nearly oppo- 

 site, without stipels, lanceolate, 6-11 pair. PL lai-ge, 1 in. long, pink or white, 

 in short terminal racemes, on pedicels 2-3 times the broadly campanulate 

 calyx, teeth unequal. Stamens monadelphous, the 10th free at the base, 

 alternate filaments dilated above. Pod linear 3-4 in. long, straight, rostrate, 

 thickened at the sutures, densely velvety, 2-8 seeded, in^egularly contracted 

 between seeds. 



Hills of Western Peninsula, covered with hlossoms May-Aug. Ceylon, Madagascar, 

 tropical Africa. 



8. MILLETTIA, Wight et Am. ; PL Brit. Ind. ii. 104. 



Tx^ees or climbers, leaves imparipinnate, single or fasciculate, on nodes, which 

 are sometimes produced, leaflets opposite, often stipeilate. PL white, pink, 

 purple, rarely blue, in racemes or panicles. Calyx truncate or shortly toothed. 

 Standard in most species glabrous outsicie. Yexillary stamen wholly free, or 

 the middle of filament connate with the sheath, anthers uniform. Pod cori- 

 aceous or woody, dehiscent, not winged as a rule. The root of several species 

 and the fruit of M. pachyearjpa used to intoxicate fish. 50-60 species in the 

 tropical and subtropical regions of the old world, of which more than one half 

 in the Eastern Peninsula. None in Ceylon. The boundaries between Mlllettia 

 and Berris are uncertain. 



In the case of this genus, as well as in the case of Dalhergia and Beri^is-^ I classhify 

 the species ab treeb (or fohriihs) and climbers, because these biological features are con- 

 venient for practical purposes. This distinction, however, is not in all cases absolute. 

 In the deep shade of the forest Mlllettia anrlniJata^ Derrls scandens and other climbers 

 remain stunted shrubs, but when light is given overhead, the internodes lengthen out ; 

 the shoots seek the light, and begin to climb, attaching themselves to other shrubs 

 and trees. Again, in the open, exposed to the sun, climbing species may remain 

 shrubby for want of supports to lean upon. Hence the same species is sometimes de- 

 scribed by botanists as an erect shrub or as a climber. Poresters in India \\ ill even- 

 tually be able to clear up this interesting subject by experiment and by systematic 

 observations. 



