120 PLANTS, SEEDS, AND CURRENTS 



southernmost islands and of the adjacent continental regions of 

 South America (Venezuela to Brazil). 



Yet a different standpoint may be needed when we come to regard 

 the distribution of the genus. About a score of species are known, 

 of which about a fourth are confined to the New World and about 

 two-thirds to Africa and Madagascar, whilst Burma holds a species of 

 its own. The indications are that, as a genus, Entada belongs to 

 the tropics of both the eastern and western hemispheres, and that, 

 however effective oceanic currents may have been in dispersing 

 a particular species (E. scandens) around the globe, we must look 

 elsewhere for the explanation of the range of the genus. In this 

 respect Entada falls into line with a multitude of tropical genera 

 shared by the Old and the New World. 



A word may be said here respecting the spread of Entada scandens 

 to the interior of continents, as, for instance, to the Himalayan 

 region and to the lake district of Africa. It is quite likely that man 

 has often here played a part, but it is probable that large animals 

 have also taken a share in the dispersal. We know that camels 

 and ostriches will at times swallow almost anything; and although 

 such creatures would scarcely frequent localities where Entada 

 scandens is at home, yet it is noteworthy that there is in the Kew 

 Museum an entire seed of this plant, measuring about 1 J inches across, 

 which was removed from the caecum of a rhinoceros from Chittagong 

 that died in the Zoological Gardens of London. 



MUCUNA URENS, DC, AND AN ALLIED SPECIES, PROBABLY MUCUNA 

 ALTISSIMA, DC. 



Mucuna seeds of two kinds, not very dissimilar in appearance and 

 evidently belonging to allied species, make up 6 per cent, of the larger 

 drift cast up on the beaches of the Turks Islands. Of these about a 

 third belong to M. urens, DC. and are not to be distinguished from 

 seeds of the same species collected by me in the Pacific islands (Plant 

 Dispersal, p. 80, etc.). The plant in flower and fruit, as observed 

 by me in Jamaica and Tobago, corresponds to De Candolle's descrip- 

 tion as given by Grisebach ; whilst seeds of the same species gathered 

 by me on the Panama beaches were thus named at Kew. The seeds 

 are semi-globose, nearly an inch across (20-24 mm.), and have a 

 broad raphe, a fifth of an inch (5 mm.) wide, that nearly encircles the 

 seed. They are typically greyish black or brownish black, but seeds 

 in the drift may present a lighter hue. The other Mucuna seeds 

 belong to a type often designated as " near urens " in this work. 

 There are reasons for the belief that they are the seeds of M. altissima, 

 DC, a species regarded as confined to the New World, and as such 

 they are sometimes referred to in these pages ; but, as shown below, 

 this identification requires confirmation. These seeds are twice as 

 frequent as those of M. urens on the beaches of the Turks Islands. 

 They are flatter or more depressed and are rather over an inch in 

 diameter (26-30 mm.), and they possess a narrower but similarly 

 encircling raphe (3-4 mm.). In colour they are usually a dark or a 

 light brown, and when of the lighter hue they sometimes display 



