328 
CALYCI FLORAE. 
nated ; flowers yellow. — Named by Plunder, in honour of An- 
dreas Caesalpinus, author of several botanical works, and phy- 
sician to Pope Clement VIII. 
1. Caesalpinia Brasiliensis. Brasiletto-TVood. 
Unarmed, pinnse 4-paired, leaflets 7-8-paired, ellip- 
tic or oval obtuse subglabrous, rachises and calices 
pubescent, racemes simple or subpanicled, pedicels 
rather shorter than the flowers, and stamens than the 
corolla. Legumes thin piano-compressed. 
C. arborea inermis, foliis minoribus, paribus bipinnatis, ligno 
kermesino, Browne , Jam. 227. — C. Brasiliensis, Swartz , Obs. 
166 De Cand. Prod. II. 482. 
HA.B. Common in dry limestone districts. 
FL. January. 
A tree, seldom more than 15 feet in height, with spreading 
unarmed branches. Leaves bi-pinnate : pinna; 4-paired : leaf- 
lets 7-8-paired, snb-opposite, shortly petiolulated, oval, obtuse 
at the apex, shining and minutely puberulous above, ciliated, 
puberulous beneath, especially along the mid nerve, 1 — 1^ inch 
in length : common petiole subterete, pubescent. Racemes 
sometimes axillary, solitary, simple ; at other times crowded 
into a sort of panicle at the ends of the branches, many-flower- 
ed : rachis angulose, pubescent : pedicels short (about 3 lines in 
length), puberulous : flowers small, yellow. Calyx externally 
puberulous, 5-fid ; 4 of the segments subequal, oval, blunt, 
crisped, lacerato-fimbriated ; the 5th and lowest segment large, 
roundish, concave, crisped, pectinated. Petals, 4 of them sub- 
equal, clawed, oblong, puberulous towards the claw ; the 5th 
without a claw, broad at the base, rounded, concave at the 
apex so as to be somewhat hooded, ciliated, puberulous. Sta- 
mens 10, subequal : filaments subulate, hairy towards the base: 
anthers oblong, yellow. Ovary oblong, villous : style short: 
stigma simple. Legume 2| inches long and nearly one broad, 
thin, samaroid, leaflike, slightly inflated at the situation of the 
seeds, linear, acuminate at the base, obtuse at the apex, glab- 
rous, 4-seeded : seeds ovoid, compressed. 
De Candolle has described the legumes of this species as 
one- seeded. The wood of this tree, according to Browne, is 
very hard, of an orange tinge, and takes a fine polish ; it is full 
of resin, and gives, on infusion, a fine full tincture. It is much 
used for ornamental purposes in cabinet- making, and it is con- 
sidered to be peculiarly well adapted for making the spokes of 
the wheels of carriages. I am not aware that it is at present 
ever cut down for exportation as a dye-wood. The best Brazil 
wood for dyeing is said to be produced by the C. echinata, a 
native of Brazil. 
