XLIII. LEGUMINOS^E. 
471 
80. ADENANTHERA, Linn. 
(Anthers bearing a gland.) 
Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 5, valvate in the bud, cohering at first, at length 
free. Stamens 10, free ; anthers ovate, tipped by a deciduous gland. Ovary 
sessile, with several ovules ; style filiform, with a small terminal stigma. Pod 
linear, compressed, falcate, 2-valved, the endocarp often forming more or less 
complete partitions between the seeds ; valves somewhat convex. Seeds thick, 
with a hard, shining, red or red-and-black testa, surrounded usually by a thin 
pulp ; funicle slightly thickened ; albumen scanty ; radicle short, straight. — 
Unarmed trees. Leaves abruptly bipinnate, with several pairs of pinnae and of 
leaflets. Flowers small, white or yellowish, always pedicellate in long spike-like 
racemes, either solitary in the axils or forming a simple terminal panicle. 
A genus of few species, natives of the tropical regions of the Old World, one of them intro- 
duced and now naturalised in the West Indies. It is closely allied to Prosopis and several others 
separated from Mimosa and Acacia, differing chiefly in the pedicellate flowers and in the seeds 
resembling those of Ormosia, and externally those of Abrus, and the original A. pavonina, Linn., 
has moreover a remarkably long twisting pod. — Benth. 
Pinnae 8 to 12. Leaflets 12 to 18, obtuse. Seeds 1-coloured, usually 
bright red 1. A. pavonina. 
Pinnae about 6. Leaflets 8 to 12, oval or orbicular-ovate. Seeds 2-coloured, 
red and black 2. A. abrosperma. 
1. A. pavonina (peacock-like), Linn.: DC. Prod. ii. 446. Red Sandal- 
wood. A tree 70 to 80ft. high (F. v. M.) ; on the Mulgrave I only saw 
small trees 30 to 40ft. high ; the young parts puberulent. Leaves deciduous, 
abruptly pinnate, 1 to lift. long. Pinnae about 10, 2 to 5in. long. Leaflets 
8 to 14, oblong, the largest l£in. long, lin. broad, glaucous pubescent beneath. 
Flowers small, yellow, in terminal racemose panicles, pedicels minute. Calyx 
i line long. Petals 1 line long. Pods curved, 4 to 6in. long, linear, acuminate at 
both ends, when ripe closely curled, glabrous on the outside. Seeds shining, 
scarlet, lenticuiate, compressed, 4 to 5 lines diameter. 
Hab.: Mulgrave River and other tropical localities. 
S. Kurz, Forest FI. Brit. Burma i. 417, remarks : — “ Wood rather heavy, coarse, fibrous, light- 
brown or yellowish-grey, turning brown at exposure, hard and close-grained, soon attacked by 
Xylophages ; the heart-wood dark-brown, solid, hard and durable, suitable for cabinet-work. 
Wood yields a red dye. The scarlet seeds are used by jewellers for weights, also for 
ornaments, &c.” 
I have no sample of the wood of the Queensland tree. 
2. A. abrosperma (seeds like those of Abrus), V. v. M. Fragm. v. 30; 
Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 299. “Oon-doo,” Mitchell River, Palmer; “ Rokowara,” 
Palmer River, Iioth. A tree of about 36ft. in height, the trunk often having 
a diameter of l|ft. The young growth usually puberulous. Leaves usually 
having 6 pinme about 3in. long, subopposite, the common petiole 2in. long. 
Leaflets oblong, emarginate, fin. long, |in. broad, pale on the under side, the 
erecto-patent lateral nerves, prominent on the upper surface, looping some 
distance from the margin. Pod straight, scarcely stipitate, 5in. long, fin. 
broad, very obtuse, somewhat tapering at the base, thickened at the sutures, 
valves thick, very dark and nearly smooth outside. Seeds 8 to 10, transverse, 
sunk in the substance of the valves ; funicle flexuose under the seed. Seeds 
somewhat pear-shaped and compressed, about 3^ lines long, the lower half red, 
the upper black, very glossy. 
Hab.: Near Musgrave Telegraph Station, Cape York Peninsula, T. Barclay-Millar, who 
describes the bark and leaves as very bitter ; Mitchell River, E. Palmer ; and from the Gilbert 
to the coast on sandy land. 
Wood close-grained, very heavy, of a dark-red colour. — Bailey's Cat. Ql. Woods No. 128, 
Seeds roasted in the pods before being eaten, Mitchell River. Palmer, 
Bark thrown into water for “ poisoning ” fish. — Both, 
Part II, T, 
