Am: Jc°tu"i8P7h9arm  }     The  Botanical  Source  of  Araroba.  499 
two  upper  teeth  being  larger  and  longer  and  separated  by  a  more  obtuse 
angle  than  the  other  three,  which  are  equal  and  of  which  two  corres- 
pond in  position  to  the  wings  of  the  corolla  and  the  central  one  to  the 
keel. 
The  corolla  consists  of  five  clawed  petals,  the  standard  being  entire, 
orbicular,  about  2  centimeters  in  diameter,  slightly  emarginate  at  the 
apex,  and  furnished  with  a  claw  about  \  centimeter  long,  and  consist- 
ing in  great  part  of  the  thickened  middle  vein  of  the  standard.  The 
alae  or  wings  are  obovate,  elongated,  about  16  millimeters  long  by  6 
broad,  curved  towards  the  base,  and  forming  a  longitudinal  and  oblique 
sinus1  (gotteira)  near  the  top  of  the  claw  on  the  side  opposite  to  the 
standard,  the  claw  being  about  7  millimeters  long.  The  two  petals 
forming  the  keel  are  similarly  formed,  but  less  curved,  and  4  or  5 
millimeters  broad.  The  stamens,  nine  in  number,  are  monadelphous 
and  perigynous,  about  2  centimeters  long,  and  adherent  for  about  a  third 
of  their  length,  but  having  a  slit  opposite  to  the  middle  of  the  vexillum. 
The  anthers  are  ovoid  with  a  longitudinal  furrow  on  their  inferior  sur- 
face, in  the  middle  of  which  the  filament  is  inserted.  The  upper  sur- 
face is  convex  and  smooth.  The  pistil  consists  of  a  single  carpel,  and 
exceeds  the  stamens  in  length  by  1  or  2  millimeters.  The  ovary, 
which  has  a  stalk  about  4  millimeters  long,  is  flattened  at  the  sides,  and 
presents  two  salient  lines  or  rudimentary  wings.  The  ovary  and  style 
(the  latter  for  two- thirds  of  its  length  only)  are  covered  with  rusty 
hairs.  The  ovary  is  convex  on  the  side  opposite  to  the  slit  in  the 
androphore,  and  concave  on  the  side  nearest  to  the  two  lateral  wings. 
The  ovary  is  one-celled  and  one-seeded.  The  embryo  is  curved, 
and  the  seed  exalbuminous.    The  arillus  is  short  and  tortuous. 
From  the  above  description  it  will  be  seen  that  the  araroba  plant 
belongs  to  the  Leguminosae,  and  to  the  tribe  of  Dalbergieae.  It  much 
resembles  in  some  characters  Dalbergia  miscolobium,  Benth.,  and  Andira 
fraxinifolia,  Benth.  Neither  of  these  two  plants,  nor  the  Andira 
inermis,  has  the  obtuse  emarginate  leaflets  which  characterize  the 
araroba  tree. 
The  author  believes  the  plant  to  have  been  hitherto  undescribed,  and 
proposes  the  name  of  Andira  Araroba,  Aguiar,  for  it,  since  the  drupa- 
ceous   fruit,  panicled  inflorescence,  purple  flowers  and    the  other 
1  This  is  not  well  shown  in  the  original  wood-cut. 
