BOTANY. 
259 
Dalbergia, Linn. 
180. D. frondosa, Eoxb.—' This and the following species are 
large timber trees of Bengal, and are recorded by Eoxbuigh as 
growing in tbe Island. It is probable tliat they were at that time 
introduced, and have not succeeded. — Hab. Bengal. 
181. D. Sissoo, Eoxb. — Hab. Bengal. 
Desmodium, Desv. 
182. D. argenteum, Wall. — A very pretty shrubby plant, with, 
silvery leaves and purple pea-shaped flowers, growing at I he Her- 
mitage, Plantation, &c., uncultivated ; seeds freely, but is raie. 
Hab. S. America. 
183. D. arenarium, H. B. et K. — A small shrub, with yellow 
blossoms, somewhat like those of the Laburnum, growing wild in 
Maldivia Gardens. C. Alt. '8 — Hab. America and West Indies. 
Dolichos, Linn. 
184. D. lignosus, Linn. — Common pink Dolichos; cultivated 
in gardens; seeds well, but is rare. Bot. Mag. 380. Hab. L. 
Indies. 
Erythrina, Linn. 
185. E. caffra, Thunb. — Cock and Hen, or Cape Coral 
Tree; grows wild, and is very common, from Jamestown, alt. ‘5, up 
to the high land, alt. 4 It attains to a large tree, forty feet in 
height, with a stem four or five feet in diameter. Its bright scarlet 
flowers contrast well with its dark-green leaves. It is much used 
in hedges as fences, but is objectionable because it requires, in con- 
sequence of its very rapid growth, so much attention. The roots 
also extend to a considerable distance, and greatly impoverish the 
surrounding land. The timber is tough, very coarse, and little 
used ; the leaves, however, afford good food for cattle, and in seasons 
of drought become very valuable for that purpose. Two species 
grow in the Island. One of them, B. corallodendrum ?, flowers when 
out of leaf, and the apparently dead tree, covered thickly all over 
with bunches of deep scarlet blossoms, is a singular object. This is 
the least common of the two, and may be seen in Jamestown, and 
at the foot of Barnes’ Road. The brilliant red seeds are worked 
