Tamarindus] XLV. LEGUMINOSJl 253 



A large unarmed tree. Leaflets 10-15 pair. Racemes lax, with 10-15 

 fl. Calyx-tube turbinate, segments 4. Petals 3, unequal, variegated with 

 red and yellow, the 2 lower reduced to scales. Perfect stamens 3, filaments 

 united to the middle, anthers oblong, versatile. Ovary stipitate, the stalk 

 adnate to calyx-tube. Pod thick, filled with dark brown acid pulp, traversed 

 by fibres. Seeds brown, shining, without albumen. 



Cnlivated throughout India and Burma. Trees are found a^ far as the Jlielam, but 

 the fruit does not ripen west of Amballa. Self-sown in waste and forest lands, but not 

 originally indigenous in India or Burma. Great Coco Island, introduced by the sea, 

 not planted (Prain in Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, 66 [1898], 201). Cultivated and run wild 

 in the tropics of hoth the New and Old World, "believed to be indigenous in tropical 

 Africa. Never leafless, foliage changes in March and April. Fl. May, June. Pr. 

 Febr.-March. 



14. CASSIA, Linn. ; PL Brit Ind. ii. 261. 



Herbs, erect shrubs or trees. L. paripinnate. Calyx-tube very short or 0. 

 Sepals imbricate. Petals usually broad, nearly eq^ual. Pods flat or terete, as 

 a rule with transverse partition walls. Seeds numerous, albuminous. Species 

 380, in both hemispheres, mostly tropical, a few extra-tropical. 



A. The three lower stamens have long curved filaments and anthers, which 

 open by longitudinal slits, four stamens have short filaments and anthers 

 opening by basa] pores : the rest have minute anthers without pollen. Pod 

 cylindric, indehiscent, hard. 



1. C. Fistula, Linn. ; Brandis P. PL 164. The Indian Lalmrnum, Vern. 

 Kaniar^ Karangal^ Pb. ; Amaltds, Hind. ; Bahama^ Mar, ; Sonaru^ Assam. ; 

 Harl, Kol ; Sonarij Uriya ; Kakke^ Kakkai^ Xan. ; Eelctj Tel. ; Konnaij Tarn. ; 

 Kgiij Burm. 



A middle-sized, at times a lai^ge tree, bark greenish-gi*ey, smooth up to 

 middle age, sapwood large, heart- wood brick-red when fresh cut, darkening on 

 exposure, very hard, youngest shoots silky. Leaflets glabrous when full 

 grown, 4-8 pair, ovate, acute or shortly acuminate, blade 2-5, pet. \-\ in. 

 long, sec. n. numerous, stipules minute. PL large, bright yellow, in lax long 

 pendulous racemes, bracts minute, caducous, pedicels slender, 1^-2 in. long, 

 the longer filaments not thickened in the middle. Pods cylindric, 2-3 ft. long, 

 black, seeds in black sweet pulp. 



Common in deciduous forests in most parts of India and Burma. Trans-Indus on 

 the hills near Peshawar. Ascends to 4,000 ft. in the Outer Himalaya. Scarcely ever 

 wholly leafless ^ the youn^ leaves and fl. appear in April and May. The pulp of the 

 ripe fr. is a strong purgative. 



2. C. nodosa, Hamilton ; Kurz P. PL i. 392 ; Wight Ic. t. 410. "Vern. 

 GnufJiein, Burm. 



A middle-sized or large evergreen tree, the youngest shoots silky. Leaflets 

 6-12 pair, thinly coriaceous, glabrous and glossy above, opaque beneath, 

 elliptic-oblong, acuminate, blade 3-4, pet. J in. long, stipules narrow falcate, 

 early deciduous. PL showy, pink, in erect peduncnlate racemes from the Scars 

 of fallen leaves, bracts narrow-lanceolate, pubescent, persistent. Petals f~l 

 in. long, the three longer filaments with a globose thickening in the middle. 

 Pod cylindrical, 12-18 in, long. 



Silhet, Ghittagong hill tract, Andamans, evergreen forests of Martaban and Upper 

 Tenasserim. PL H. S. Malay Peninsula, Cochinchina, Borneo. 



3. C. marginata, Roxb.— Syn. O. RoxhiirgMl, DO. ; Wight HI. t. 83 ; 

 Bedd. PL Sylv. t. 180. ^ ^ .„ . . 



A small or middle-sized tree. Branchlets and young leaves silky. Leaflets 

 10-15 pair, membranous, glabrous above, oblong, emarginate and apiculate at 



