Leguminosae. 113 
Peltophorum inerme (Roxb.) Naves 
( Syn. Peltophorum ferrugineum Benth.) 
Yellow Poinciana. 
Plate XLVIII. 
1 he so-called Yellow Poinciana is usually a tree twenty-five to 
fifty feet or even more in height, possessing a dense crown of spread- 
ing branches with the younger parts and flowering panicles brown- 
tomentose. The leaves are eight to sixteen inches long with ten to 
fifteen pairs of opposite pinnae, these again with ten to fifteen pairs 
of oblong leaflets. The calyx is brown tomentose, the corolla yellow ; 
the pods are oblong, two and a half to three and a half inches long, 
longitudinally veined and contain from one to four seeds. 
This handsome shade tree which flowers during the summer 
months and the early fall is a native of Ceylon, Malaya and extends 
to Northern Australia. It is commonly cultivated in tropical coun- 
tries on account of its symmetrical crown and handsome large yellow 
flowering panicles. When in fruit it is also conspicuous by its red- 
dish pods, which become dark brown when mature. It is extensively 
cultivated in Honolulu, being planted in avenues, especially in 
Manoa Valley, while it can also be found in nearly even - yard in 
Honolulu. It is particularly well suited to dry districts and often 
flowers twice a year at irregular seasons, but usuallv only in the 
late summer. 
Castanospermum australe A. Cunn. 
The Black Beax, Moretox Bay Chestxut. 
1 he name Castanospermum is derived from the Latin Castanea= 
Chestnut, and spermum=seed. It is a tall glabrous tree with leaves 
one and a half feet long which are unequally pinnate, possessing 
eleven to fifteen ovate to broadly-oblong leaflets. The flowers, 
borne in racemes, are fleshy and resemble pea blossoms. They van- 
in color from yellow to orange and coral red, and are quite hand- 
some. The pod is eight to nine inches long, about two broad, and 
almost round ; the valves are thick and hard and contain three to 
five large chestnut-like seeds which are eaten by the natives of Aus- 
tralia to which country the tree is peculiar. 
The native prepares the seeds for food by first steeping them in 
water for eight to ten days, after which the seeds are dried in the 
sun, roasted upon hot stones and pounded into a meal. 
