32 CAESALPINIACEAE 
scales at base. Stamens 9. Ovules to 25; stigma 
truncate with ring of hairs. Pods brown, 45-65 mm 
long, 3.5-5 mm wide. Seeds 13-22, brown, oblong- 
quadrate, 2.1-3 mm long, 1.4-2.1 mm wide. 
Flowering and fruiting: Jan - May. Fig. 13 
Pantropic and across northern Australia; scattered 
in the DR in open woodland, usually on skeletal soils. 
Previously confused with C. mimosoides. Appears to 
be native in Australia. 
C. sp. [Cassia harneyi Specht] 
Erect annual to | m with zig-zag stems. 
Indumentum throughout of simple curved yellow 
hairs. Stipules 2-4 mm long. Leaves sometimes with 
sessile glands at base of rachis or between terminal 
or subterminal pairs of leaflets, rachis length 40-85 
mm long,-stipellae absent; leaflets 6-13 pairs, 
Chamaecrista 
narrowly oblong or narrow-oblanceolate, slightly 
asymmetric, 7-25 mm long, 1.3-5.5 mm wide, 
L/W 4.5-7, apiculate. Inflorescence supra-axillary, 
contracted, few-flowered. Bracts and bracteoles c. 
1-2 mm long. Pedicels 2-3 mm long. Sepals equal, 
oblanceolate, 2.7-3.8 mm long. Petals shortly clawed, 
obovate, 4-5 mm long, sometimes with minute scales 
at base. Stamens 10. Pods dark brown, 20-30 mm 
long, 3.5-5 mm wide. Seeds 4-7, dull brown, obovate, 
oblique, c. 3.5 x 2.5 mm. Flowering and fruiting: 
Mar - Aug. Fig. 13 
Africa, India to Arabia and in Australia from Cape 
York and the Top End. Rare in the DR where known 
only from Mt Bundey. Typically associated with open 
habitats on sandstone but also on granite. 
Probably conspecific with C. nigricans (Vahl) 
Standl. (L. Pedley pers. comm.). Currently known 
as Cassia harneyi. 
DELONIX Raf. 
A genus of c. 8 species from Madagascar, Africa to India. One species introduced in Australia. 
*D. regia (Boj. ex Hook.) Raf. 
Poinciana regia Boj. ex Hook. 
Deciduous tree to 10 m; bark smooth, pale. 
Indumentum shortly tomentose on underside of leaf- 
lets, leaf rachis, bases of the petals, staminal filaments 
and ovary. Stipules caducous, foliaceous, pinnate, c. 
7 mm long. Leaves bipinnate, terminated by caducous 
bristle, rachis 160-300 mm long; pinnae 9-18 pairs, 
45-80 mm long; 15-26 leaflet pairs per pinna; leaflets 
15-26 pairs per pinna, discolorous, oblong, 5-13 mm 
long, 2-4.5 mm wide, L/W 2.5-3. Inflorescence an 
axillary raceme to 250 mm long. Bracts ovate, c. 3.5 
mm long. Pedicels 35-75 mm long. Flowers 
zygomorphic. Sepals red outside, yellow inside, 5, 
equal, thick, oblong, valvate, 30-35 mm long. Petals 
red, 1 red and yellow, 5, free, long-clawed, limb + 
orbicular, slightly broader than long, red, 55-65 mm 
long. Stamens 10, of variable length, hairy at base; 
anthers basifixed, versatile. Ovary + sessile; ovules 
numerous; style long, glabrous; stigma terminal, 
truncate, hairy. Pods brown, dehiscent, woody, 
flattened, straight or slightly curved, oblong, 20-40- 
seeded, 300-600 mm long, 40-50 mm wide. Seeds 
brown with pale margins and mottled, narrowly 
elliptic to oblong, 19-20 mm long, 7-8 mm wide. 
Flowering: Nov - Dec; fruits persisting throughout 
year. Fig. 13 Poinciana, Orange Flame Tree 
Originally from Madagascar, now widely cultivated 
throughout the tropics. In the DR naturalised and 
common at East Point, Channel Island and abandoned 
settlements. 
ERYTHROPHLEUM R. Br. 
A genus of 10 species from Africa, Madagascar, Asia and Australia; 1 species endemic in tropical Australia. 
E. chlorostachys (F. Muell.) Baillon 
Evergreen or deciduous trees to 15 m high; bark 
corky in young trees, becoming dark grey, hard and 
tessellated at length; glabrescent or glabrous, hairs 
simple. Stipules minute, caducous. Leaves bipinnate, 
rachis 75-190 mm long, pinnae in 1-3 opposite pairs, 
65-190 mm long, terminating in a leaflet; leaflets on 
petiolules 2.5-10 mm long, alternate, 1-9 per pinna, 
