264 XLV. LEG-UMINOS-^ [Acacia 



A thorny shrub; spines straight, stiptilar. Common petiole 1^-2 in. ; 

 pinnse 4-8 pair ; cup-shaped glands below the lowest and often at the base of 

 the uppermost pair; leaflets 10-20 pair. Fl. bright yellow, sweet-scented, 

 in globose fasciculate heads. Pod nearly cjdindriCj pointed at the ends, scarcely 

 dehiscent, glabrous, valyes with raised parallel lines ; seeds embedded in dry 

 spongy tissue. 



Indigeiiouh in Americaj but naturalized throughout India and Burma. Fl. Jan.- 

 March. 



2. A. planifrons, W. et A.; Trimen Handbook Ceylon t. 35, Tlie Umhrella 

 Thorn, Vern. Godugu Tlm^nma, Tel. ; Kodaivelam^ Jali Salei, Tarn. 



A middle-sized tree, crown flat, spreading, umbrella-like. Spines of two 

 kinds on the same branch : {a) long (1-2 in.), cylindric, ivory white, (b) short, 

 slightly curved, brown. L. small, fasciculate, with the £. on arrested 

 branchlets ; pinnee I in. long, 3-5 pair; leaflets 6-10 pair, minute, obtuse. Fl. 

 heads yellow in bud, white when open ; peduncles slender, ^^-f in. long. Pod 

 2-3 in. long, glabrous, nearly cylindrical, curved nearly into a ring. 



Southern Deccan : Salem, Madura, Tinnevelli, often gregarious. FL March. Praiii 

 ill Journ. As, Soc. Bengal Q6, (1898), 506, mentions a species from Southern India 

 different from 2, possibly A, JRoxhurghii^ W. et A. TMs is not known to me. 



3. A. arat)ica, Willd. ; Bedd. Pl.Sylv. t. 47.— Syn. Mimosa arahica^Jjo^m. ; 

 Eoxb. Cor. PL t. 149. Vern. Bdbul^ Hind. ; Kikar, Pb. ; Bamura^ Jabalp. ; 

 BahaVj Sind ; Jalij Kan. ; Nellatuma^ Tel. ; Karu Wlam, Tarn. 



A large tree ; bark rough with deep narrow longitudinal fissures ; heart-wood 

 pale red, when fresh cut nearly colourless, on exposure turning reddish-brown. 

 Stipular spines straight, ^-2 in. long. Pinnse 3-6 pair, cup-shaped glands 

 at the base of the lowest, and generally also of the uppermost pair ; leaflets 

 small, linear, 10-20 pair. PL golden-yellow, in globose heads, h in, diam. ; 

 peduncles slender, fasciculate; a pair of scaly bracts in the middle. Pod 

 solitary, moniliform, much contracted between seeds at both sutures, whitish- 

 tomentose, stalk i-l in. lonp*. 



Indigenous in Bind and the Northern Deccan, including Berar and Khandeish. Culti- 

 vated and naturalized throughout India, except in the most humid regions on tlie western 

 coast and in the extreme North-'West beyond the Jhelam, where the frost is too severe in 

 winter. Tropical Africa, Arabia. G-regarious. Babul forests are extensive in lower Sind 

 along tbe Indus, and in the Deccan along the Purua, Bbima and Kistna rivers and tbeir 

 tributaries. Fl. B. S. and 0. S*, never leafless, the young foliage comes out in 

 Febr. and ApriL Tbe pods are an excellent cattle-fodder. Gum exudes largely from 

 wounds in the bark. 



A remarkable variety is the KauUa or Kowri Bahul in Berar and Khandeisb, called 

 Yedi Babul in Poona, Sholapur and Satara. The spines are white, very stout, up 

 to 2J in. long, the pod is flat, on short stalks, | in. broad and very little constricted 

 between tke seeds. In these districts the ordinary form with moniliform pods is 

 called Telia or Qodi Bahul, its wood is prized, wbile that of the KauUa is considered 

 only flt for firewood. The bark of the KauUa is more deeply cracked and exfoliating 

 and the crown is formed of twisted interlacing branches. In Africa and Arabia also 

 arabiea varies greatly. 



4. A. eburnea, Willd.; Trimen Handbook Ceylon ii. 124. — ^jn* Mimosa 

 eburneay Eoxb. Cor. PL t. 199. Vern. Marmat^ Mar. ; OdaP^ Tam, 



A large shrub or small tree. Branches armed with straight stipular spines, 

 mostly stout, ivory-white and 1-2 in. long. L. small, clothed with long hairs ; 

 pinnEB 4-8 ; leaflets 8-12 pair, acute. PL yellow, with an unpleasant 

 smell ; heads under | in. diam., fasciculate, reddish-brown while in bud ; mem- 

 branous bracts Mow the middle of the peduncle. Pods linear, slender, flat, 

 veined, generally 2-4 from one fl. head, 2-5 in. long, edges undulate. 



Trans -Indus, Baluchistan. Salt range, Subhimalayan tract and outer valleys, 

 ascending to B,000 ft., east as far as Oudb. Sind. The Deccan. M. Nov.-March. Dry 

 region of Ceylon. 



