Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) 2nd ed.

Leaves oval, broad-ovate, or occasionally obovate, acute, short-pointed or rounded at apex, cuneate, rounded or rarely slightly obcordate at base, and finely serrate with incurved teeth tipped with minute or sometimes near the base of the blade with larger dark glands, when they unfold coated below and on the upper side of the midrib with fine pubescence, and at maturity thick and firm in texture, 4′—5′ long, about 2′ wide, dark dull green and glabrous on the upper surface, dull and covered on the lower surface with short simple or forked accrescent hairs most abundant and sometimes rufescent on the slender midrib and primary veins; petioles stout, tomentose, becoming pubescent, eglandular or occasionally furnished near the apex with 1 or 2 large dark glands, ¼′—½′ in length; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-serrate, bright red, ½′ long, caducous. Flowers appearing during the first week of May, when the leaves are about half grown, ¼′ in diameter, on pubescent pedicels from the axils of ovate or obovate acuminate bright pink caducous bracts, in spreading or erect slender pubescent racemes 3′—4′ long; calyx-tube broad, cup-shaped, puberulous, with short almost triangular lobes persistent on the fruit; petals white, nearly orbicular. Fruit ripening late in September, subglobose to short-oblong, ⅓′ in diameter, dark red or finally nearly black, with thin acid flesh; stone ovoid somewhat compressed, pointed at the ends, ¼′ long, ridged on the ventral suture with a broad low ridge, and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.

A tree, 25°—30° high, with a short trunk rarely 10′ in diameter, spreading somewhat drooping branches, and slender branchlets coated at first with pale tomentum, dark red-brown during their first season, becoming nearly glabrous before winter, and much darker in their second year. Bark of the trunk dark, rough, separating freely into small thin scales.

Distribution. Summits of the low mountains of central Alabama; rare and local.

17. Prunus australis Beadl. Wild Cherry.

Leaves obovate, oval or elliptic, gradually narrowed and obtusely short-pointed or sometimes acute at apex, rounded or occasionally cuneate at the narrowed base, and finely serrate with slender teeth tipped with minute dark red glands, when they unfold membranaceous, pale yellow-green and glabrous above, with the exception of occasional pale hairs along the midrib, and coated below with pale or ferrugineous pubescence, and at maturity thin but firm, dark dull green above, covered below with rufous hairs most abundant on the thin broad midrib, and on the slender primary veins extending nearly to the margins of the leaf, conspicuously reticulate-venulose, 2½′—4′ long and 1½′—2½′ wide; petioles rusty-tomentose, biglandular at apex with large dark glands, about ¼′ in length; stipules linear to linear-lanceolate, glandular, bright rose color, ¼′—½′ long. Flowers probably opening toward the end of April, on short pedicels from the axils of minute rose-colored caducous bracts, in slender spreading hoary-pubescent racemes 3′—4′ long; the expanded flowers not known. Fruit ripening and falling late in July, on pedicels ¼′ long, globose, surrounded at base by the calyx-lobes and remnants of the stamens, dark purple when fully ripe, and about ¼′ in diameter, with thin flesh; stone ovoid, compressed, rounded at base, pointed at apex, about ⅙′ long and broad, ridged on the ventral suture, with a low broad ridge, slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.

A tree, sometimes 60° tall, with a trunk 12′—16′ in diameter, spreading or ascending branches forming an oblong head, and slender branchlets coated at first with pale pubescence, becoming puberulous, dull red-brown, and roughened by numerous small pale elevated lenticels at the end of their first season, and glabrous or puberulous in their second year. Winter-buds ovoid, obtuse, about ¹/₁₂′ long, with acute dark red-brown glabrous scales. Bark of young stems and of the branches thin, silvery gray, and roughened by long horizontal lenticels, becoming on older trunks ⅓′ thick, ashy gray or brownish black, deeply fissured and broken into thick persistent plate-like scales.

Distribution. Clay soil at Evergreen, Conecut County, Alabama; common.

18. Prunus virens Shrive. Wild Cherry.

Padus virens Woot. & Stanl.
Prunus serotina, ed. 1, in so far as relates to western Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Leaves elliptic, ovate or rarely slightly obovate, acute, rounded or occasionally acuminate or abruptly narrowed into a short obtuse point at apex, rounded or broad-cuneate at base, finely crenately serrate, glabrous, light green and lustrous on the upper surface, lighter green and glabrous on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long and ¾′—1′ wide, with a slender midrib, thin veins and reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, glabrous or rarely slightly villose, without glands, ¼′—½′ in length. Flowers appearing when the leaves are nearly fully grown from the first to the middle of May, ¼′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels, in erect or spreading many-flowered glabrous or puberulous racemes 3′—6′ long; calyx-tube saucer-shaped, glabrous, ³/₁₆′ wide, persistent under the fruit, the lobes short-pointed, acute, persistent; petals broad-obovate, pure white. Fruit ripening in August and September, in erect or spreading racemes, subglobose to short-oblong, purplish black and lustrous at maturity, ¼′—½′ in diameter, with thin juicy acrid flesh; stone compressed, slightly obovoid ¼′ in diameter, with a low broad ridge on the ventral suture, and rounded on the dorsal suture.

A tree in sheltered cañons sometimes 25°—30° high, with a trunk 18′ or 20′ in diameter, small, usually drooping or occasionally wide-spreading branches, and slender glabrous red-brown pendulous branchlets marked by small pale lenticels, becoming gray-brown in their second year; on open mountain slopes a shrub with numerous erect stems and usually smaller leaves. Winter-buds acute or acuminate, ¹/₁₆′—⅛′ long, with slightly villose red-brown scales. Bark near the base of old trunks ¼′ thick, nearly black, deeply fissured and broken on the surface into thin persistent scales, higher on the trunk and on small stems thin, smooth, reddish or gray-brown, lustrous and marked by many narrow oblong pale horizontal lenticels.

Distribution. Guadalupe Mountains, western Texas, over the mountain ranges of southern New Mexico and Arizona, extending northward in Arizona to the cañons of the Colorado plateau south of the Colorado River; widely and generally distributed at altitudes between 5000° and 8000°, but nowhere abundant. Passing into var. rufula Sarg., differing in the rusty brown pubescence on the lower side of the midrib of the leaves, in the pubescent petiole and lower part of the rachis, in the puberulous ovary, and in the rusty brown pubescence of the young branchlets.

Distribution. With the species on many of the mountain ranges of southern New Mexico and Arizona at altitudes between 5400° and 6000°.

19. Prunus caroliniana Ait. Wild Orange. Mock Orange.

Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, mucronate, with entire thickened slightly revolute margins, or rarely remotely spinulose-serrate, glabrous, coriaceous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, 2′—4½′ long and ¾′—1½′ wide, and obscurely veined, with a narrow pale midrib; persistent until their second year; petioles stout, broad, orange-colored; stipules foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate. Flowers appearing from February to April, on slender pedicels about ½′ long, from the axils of long-acuminate scarious red-tipped bracts, in dense racemes shorter than leaves; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, the lobes small, thin, rounded, undulate on the margins, reflexed after the flowers open, deciduous; petals boat-shaped, minute, cream-colored; stamens exserted, orange-colored, with glabrous filaments and large pale anthers; ovary gradually narrowed into a slender erect style enlarged above into a club-shaped stigma. Fruit ripening in the autumn, remaining on the branches until after the flowering period of the following year, oblong, short-pointed, black and lustrous, ½′ long, with a thick skin, and thin dry flesh; stone short-ovoid, pointed, nearly cylindric, about ½′ long, full and rounded at base, with thin fragile walls, obscurely ridged on the ventral suture and deeply grooved on the dorsal suture.

A tree, 30°—40° high, with a straight or inclining trunk sometimes 10′ in diameter, slender horizontal branches forming a narrow oblong or sometimes a broad head, and glabrous branchlets marked by occasional pale lenticels, slightly angled, at first light green, becoming bright red, and in the second season light brown or gray. Winter-buds acuminate, ⅛′ long, covered with narrow pointed dark chestnut-brown scales rounded on the back. Bark about ⅛′ thick, gray, smooth or slightly roughened by longitudinal fissures, and marked by large irregular dark blotches. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown or sometimes rich dark brown, with thick lighter colored sapwood. The partially withered leaves and young branches are often fatal to animals browsing upon them, owing to the considerable quantities of hydrocyanic acid which they contain.

Distribution. Deep rich moist bottom-lands; valley of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina, to the shores of Bay Biscayne and the valley of the Kissimee River, Florida, and through southern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the valley of the Guadalupe River, Texas; in Bermuda; in the Atlantic and eastern Gulf states usually only in the immediate neighborhood of the sea, rarely ranging inland more than fifteen or twenty miles; common along the borders of hummocks in the center of the Florida peninsula and a characteristic tree on those in the region of Lake Apopka, Orange County; in Alabama ranging inland to Dallas County (Pleasant Hill, T. B. Harbison); most abundant and of its largest size in the valleys of eastern Texas, and here often forming great impenetrable thickets.

Often cultivated in the southern states as an ornamental plant and to form hedges; and when cultivated occasionally 50°—60° high, with a trunk 3° in diameter.

20. Prunus myrtifolia Urb.

Prunus sphærocarpa Sw.

Leaves elliptic to oblong-ovate, gradually or abruptly contracted into a broad obtuse point, or less commonly rounded or rarely emarginate at apex, cuneate at base, entire, with slightly thickened undulate margins, glabrous, eglandular, subcoriaceous, yellow-green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, obscurely veined, 2′—4½′ long and 1′—1½′ wide; persistent; petioles slender, orange-brown, ½′ to 1′ in length; stipules foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate, entire, ¼′ long, early deciduous. Flowers opening in Florida in November, ⅛′ in diameter, on thin orange-colored pedicels ¼′—⅔′ long, in slender many-flowered erect racemes shorter than the leaves; calyx-tube obconic, bright orange-colored on the outer surface, marked by an orange band in the throat, the lobes thin, minute, acute, laciniate on the margins, deciduous, much shorter than the obovate rounded or acuminate white petals marked with yellow on the inner surface toward the base, contracted below into a short claw, reflexed at maturity; stamens exserted, with slender orange-colored subulate filaments and small yellow anthers; ovary sessile, contracted into a short stout style, terminating in a large club-shaped stigma. Fruit produced in Florida very sparingly, ripening either in the spring or early summer, subglobose to short-oblong, apiculate, orange-brown, ⅓′—½′ long, with thin dry flesh; stone thin-walled, cylindric, slightly narrowed at apex, and obscurely ridged on the ventral suture.

A glabrous tree, in Florida rarely 30°—40° high, with a trunk 5′—6′ in diameter, thin upright branches and slender orange-brown branchlets, becoming ashy gray or light brown tinged with red and marked by small circular pale lenticels. Bark of the trunk thin, smooth or slightly reticulate-fissured, light brown tinged with red. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, light clear red, with thick pale sapwood.

Distribution. Florida, rich hummock land, occasionally in the neighborhood of small streams and ponds near the shore of Bay Biscayne and on Long Key in the Everglades, Dade County; through the West Indies to Brazil.

21. Prunus ilicifolia Walp. Islay.

Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute, rounded or emarginate at apex, narrowed and rounded or truncate at base, with thickened coarsely spinosely toothed margins, the stout teeth near the base of the leaf often tipped with large dark glands, thick and coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, paler and yellow-green below, 1′—2½′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with a slender yellow midrib and obscure veins; deciduous during their second summer; petioles broad, ⅛′—½′ in length; stipules acuminate, obscurely denticulate, ¼′ long. Flowers opening from March to May, ⅓′ in diameter, on short slender pedicels from the axils of acuminate scarious bracts ¼′ in length and mostly deciduous before the opening of the flower-buds, in slender erect racemes 1½′—3′ long; calyx-tube cup-shaped, orange-brown, the lobes minute, acuminate, reflexed at maturity, deciduous, about one third as long as the obovate white petals rounded above and narrowed below into a short claw; stamens slightly exserted, with slender incurved filaments and minute yellow anthers; ovary sessile, abruptly contracted into a slender style usually bent near the summit at a right angle or rarely erect, and surmounted by a large orbicular stigma. Fruit ripening in November and December, subglobose, often compressed, ½′—⅔′ in diameter, dark red when fully grown, purple or sometimes nearly black at maturity, with thin slightly acid astringent flesh; stone ovoid slightly compressed, ½′—⅝′ long, short-pointed at apex, with thin brittle walls, light yellow-brown, conspicuously marked by reticulate orange-colored vein-like lines and with 3 orange bands radiating from the base to the apex along one suture, and with a single narrow band along the other suture.

A glabrous tree, 20°—30° high, with a trunk rarely 2° in diameter or more than 10°—12° long, stout spreading branches forming a dense compact head, and branchlets at first yellow-green or orange color, soon becoming gray or reddish brown and more or less conspicuously marked by minute pale lenticels, and in their second or third years by the large leaf-scars; usually much smaller and often a shrub sometimes only a foot or two high. Winter-buds acuminate, with dark red scales contracted into a long slender point, those of the inner ranks accrescent and persistent on the young branchlets until these have reached a length of several inches. Bark ⅓′—½′ thick, dark red-brown, and divided by deep fissures into small square plates. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown, with thin lighter colored sapwood of 8—10 layers of annual growth; occasionally used for fuel.

Distribution. Borders of streams and moist sandy soil in the bottoms of cañons, and as a low shrub on dry hillsides and mesas from Solano County and the shores of the Bay of San Francisco southward through the coast ranges of California to the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, and the valley of the San Jacinto River; in Lower California southward to the western slopes of the San Pedro Mártir Mountains.

Generally cultivated as an ornamental plant in California and occasionally in western and southern Europe.

22. Prunus Lyonii Sarg.

Prunus integrifolia Sarg.

Leaves ovate to lanceolate, acuminate or abruptly narrowed into a short point at apex, cuneate, truncate or rounded at base, with thickened revolute undulate entire or occasionally, especially on vigorous shoots, remotely and minutely spinulose-dentate margins, glabrous, coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, paler below, reticulate-venulose, 2′—3′ long and ½′—2½′ wide, with a stout midrib and obscure veins; persistent; petioles stout, yellow, ⅓′—½′ in length. Flowers appearing from March to June, about ¼′ in diameter, on slender pedicels from the axils of acuminate caducous bracts, in crowded many-flowered glabrous racemes 3′—4′ long; calyx-tube cup-shaped, orange-brown, the lobes acute, apiculate, reflexed after the flowers open, deciduous, about one third as long as the obovate petals rounded and undulate above and narrowed below into a short claw; stamens slightly exserted, with incurved filaments and small yellow anthers; ovary raised on a short stipe, the style bent near the apex and terminating in a large orbicular stigma. Fruit ripening late in the autumn, on stout pedicels, in drooping few-fruited racemes, subglobose to short-oblong, dark purple or nearly black at maturity, 1′—1¼′ in diameter, with thick luscious flesh sometimes ¼′ thick; stone ovoid to obovoid, slightly compressed, thin-walled, about ¾′ long, pointed at apex, pale yellow-brown, conspicuously marked by reticulate orange-colored lines, and by 3 dark bands radiating from base to apex along one suture, and by a single narrow line on the other suture.

A bushy tree, sometimes 25°—30° high, with one or several stout erect or spreading stems 1°—3° in diameter, spreading branches forming a broad compact head, and stout branchlets light yellow-green when they first appear, becoming light and ultimately dark reddish brown, and much roughened by the large elevated leaf-scars. Winter-buds acute or obtuse, with dark red scales. Bark of the trunk ⅓′—½′ thick and dark reddish brown. Wood heavy, hard, very close-grained, pale reddish brown, with hardly distinguishable sapwood.

Distribution. Islands of southern California, in all situations from the fertile valleys and cañons at the water’s edge up to altitudes of 3000° on the dry interior ridges; in Lower California.

11. CHRYSOBALANUS L.

Trees or shrubs, with stout branchlets covered with pale lenticels, and fibrous roots. Leaves alternate, entire, coriaceous, short-petiolate, persistent; stipules minute, deciduous. Flowers perfect, short-pedicellate, small, creamy white, in axillary or terminal dichotomously branched slender canescent cymes, with conspicuous deciduous bracts; calyx turbinate-campanulate, 5-lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud, without bracts, deciduous; disk thin, adnate to the calyx-tube; petals 5, alternate with the lobes of the calyx, spatulate, deciduous; stamens (in the arborescent species) indefinite in a single continuous series, inserted with the petals on the margin of the disk; filaments filiform, hairy, free or slightly united at base; anthers ovoid, ovary sessile in the bottom of the calyx-tube, pubescent or glabrous, 1-celled; style rising from the base of the ovary, filiform, terminated by a minute truncate stigma; ovules 2, collateral, ascending; raphe dorsal; the micropyle inferior. Fruit a fleshy 1-seeded drupe with pulpy flesh, a coriaceous or crustaceous stone 5 or 6-angled toward the base and imperfectly 5 or 6-valved, the valves reticulate-veined. Seed erect; seed-coat chartaceous, light brown; embryo filling the cavity of the seed; cotyledons thick and fleshy; radicle inferior, very short.

Chrysobalanus is represented in the south Atlantic states by a shrubby species confined to the coast region from Georgia to Alabama, and by an arborescent species, an inhabitant of the shores of southern Florida, and widely distributed through the maritime regions of tropical America, and found in various forms on the coast of western tropical Africa. The insipid fruit of the arborescent species is eaten by negroes; the seeds contain a considerable quantity of oil; and the astringent bark, leaves and roots have been used in medicine.

The generic name is from χρυσός and βάλανος, in allusion to the supposed golden fruit of one of the species.

1. Chrysobalanus icaco L. Cocoa Plum.

Leaves broad-elliptic or round-obovate, rounded or slightly emarginate at apex, cuneate at base, glabrous, coriaceous, obscurely reticulate-veined, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, light yellow-green on the lower surface, 1′—3½′ long and 1′—2½′ wide, with a broad conspicuous midrib rounded on the upper side and thin primary veins, standing on the branches at an acute angle and appearing to be pressed against them; petioles stout, ⅛′—¼′ in length; stipules acuminate, ⅛′ long. Flowers ⅓′ long, on short thick club-shaped hoary-tomentose pedicels, in cymes 1′—2′ in length; appearing in Florida continuously during the spring and summer months on the growing branches; calyx hoary-tomentose, the lobes nearly triangular, acute, more or less pubescent on the inner surface and about half as long as the narrow white petals; ovary hoary-pubescent; style long and slender, clothed nearly to the apex with pale hairs. Fruit nearly globose or oval-ovoid, 1½′—1¾′ in diameter, with a smooth bright pink, yellow, or creamy white skin, white sweet juicy flesh often ¼′ thick, and more or less adherent to the stone rounded at base, acute or acuminate at apex, 5 or 6-angled below the middle, about 1′ long and twice as long as broad, indehiscent or finally separating into 5 or 6 valves, the walls composed of a thin red-brown dry outer layer and a thick interior layer of hard woody fibre; seed-coat lined with a thick white reticulated fibrous coat.

Usually a broad shrub 10°—12° high, forming dense thickets, with erect branches and dark red-brown branchlets thickly covered for four or five years with lenticels, occasionally on the borders of low hummocks arborescent with reclining or rarely erect stems 20°—30° long and 1° in diameter, or on the margins of ocean beaches often not more than 1° or 2° tall. Bark dark red-brown and scaly, separating into long thin scales. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light brown often tinged with red, with thin lighter colored sapwood of about 10 layers of annual growth.

Distribution. Florida, saline shores, river banks and low hummocks, Cape Canaveral to Bay Biscayne, and on the west coast from the mouth of the Caloosahatchie River to the southern keys; through the West Indies to southern Brazil, and on the tropical west coast of Africa. Passing into

Chrysobalanus icaco var. pellocarpa DC.

Differing from the type in its rather larger leaves spreading and less crowded on the branches, its oblong to oblong-obovoid dark purple or nearly black usually rather smaller fruit, and in its long-acuminate and more prominently angled stone.

A tree, 20°—30° or rarely 50° high, with an erect trunk 12′—16′ in diameter, erect and spreading branches forming a wide open head, and slender branchlets marked by scattered pale lenticels; often smaller and occasionally a shrub. Bark gray slightly tinged with red and covered with small closely appressed scales.

Distribution. Florida, banks of streams and borders of the Everglades, near Little River to the Everglade keys, Dade County; on the Bahama Islands and in Jamaica.

XXIII. LEGUMINOSÆ.

Trees or shrubs, with alternate usually compound leaves, regular or papilionaceous usually perfect flowers; stamens 10 or indefinite, with diadelphous or distinct filaments and 2-celled anthers, the cells opening longitudinally; ovary superior, 1 or many-celled, inserted on the bottom of the calyx. Fruit a legume. Of the four hundred and thirty genera of the Pea-family now recognized and widely distributed in all temperate and tropical regions, eighteen have arborescent representatives in the United States.

CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT GENERA.

Subfamily 1. Mimosoideæ. Calyx 4—6-toothed, the teeth valvate in the bud; petals as many as the teeth of the calyx, valvate in the bud; ovules numerous, suspended in 2 ranks from the inner angle of the ovary, superposed, anatropous, the micropyle superior; stamens much exserted; leaves twice pinnate; cotyledons oval or orbicular, flat; radicle straight.

Stamens numerous (more than 10); seeds without albumen.

Filaments more or less united into a tube.

Filaments united.

Valves of the legume not separating at maturity from the margins.

1. Pithecolobium.

Valves of the legume separating at maturity from the persistent margins.

2. Lysiloma.

Filaments free or the inner ones slightly united at base.

3. Acacia.

Stamens 10; filaments free; seeds with albumen.

Legume plano-compressed, dehiscent; flowers in globose heads.

4. Leucæna.

Legume terete or compressed, indehiscent; flowers in cylindric spikes.

5. Prosopis.

Subfamily 2. Cæsalpinioidæ. Calyx 5-lobed or toothed, the divisions usually valvate in the bud; corolla imperfectly papilionaceous or nearly regular; petals 5, imbricated in the bud, the upper petal inside and inclosed by the others; stamens 10 or less; filaments free; anthers introrse; ovules numerous (sometimes 2 in one species of Gleditsia), superposed, anatropous, the micropyle superior; seeds albuminous.

Flowers imperfectly papilionaceous; calyx 5-toothed; legume flat, wing-margined; leaves simple

6. Cercis.

Flowers regular.

Flowers polygamous or diœcious.

Calyx-tube elongated, 5-lobed; petals 5; stamens 10, shorter than the petals; legume thick and woody; leaves twice pinnate.

7. Gymnocladus.

Calyx-tube short, 3—5-lobed; petals 3—5; stamens 3—5, longer than the petals; legume leathery; leaves once and twice pinnate.

8. Gleditsia.

Flowers perfect.

Legume linear, torulose, acuminate at the ends, the valves contracted between the seeds; rachis of the leaf spinescent.

9. Parkinsonia.

Legume oblong, compressed; rachis of the leaf not spinescent.

10. Cercidium.

Subfamily 3. Papilionatæ. Calyx of 5 more or less united sepals; corolla of 5 irregular petals, papilionaceous, the upper petal (standard) larger than the others and inclosing them in the bud, usually turned backward or spreading, the 2 lateral petals (wings) oblong, exterior to the 2 lower connivent more or less united petals (keel) inclosing the stamens and pistil; stamens 10, 9 of them united into a tube cleft on the upper side, the 10th and upper stamen separate, or all distinct; ovary 1 or many-celled by cross partitions; ovules amphitropous, the micropyle superior; seeds usually without albumen; leaves once pinnate.

Stamens distinct.

Flowers in racemes; legume terete, contracted between the seeds.

11. Sophora.

Flowers in panicles; legume compressed.

12. Cladrastis.

Stamens diadelphous (9 and 1).

Flowers in racemes.

Leaves glandular-dotted.

Leaves many-foliolate; petals free and distinct.

13. Eysenhardtia.

Leaves simple; wings and keel-petals adnate to the tube of the stamens.

14. Dalea.

Leaves without glandular dots.

Legume compressed; stipules becoming spinescent, persistent.

15. Robinia.

Legume turgid, the valves unequally convex by the growth of the seeds.

Leaves 10—15-foliolate, without stipules or stipels; petals purple or violet.

16. Olneya.

Leaves 3-foliolate, with minute stipules and gland-like stipels; petals usually scarlet.

17. Erythrina.

Flowers in axillary panicles; pod linear, longitudinally 4-winged.

18. Ichthyomethia.

1. PITHECOLOBIUM Mart.

Trees or shrubs, with slender branches armed with the persistent spinescent stipules. Leaves petiolate, bipinnate, the pinnæ few-foliolate, their rachis generally marked by numerous glands between the pinnæ and between the leaflets. Flowers perfect or polygamous, from the axils of minute bracts, in pedunculate globose heads or oblong cylindric spikes, their peduncles in terminal panicles or axillary fascicles; calyx campanulate, short-toothed; corolla funnel-shaped, the petals as many as the teeth of the calyx, joined for more than half their length; stamens numerous, united at base into a tube free from the corolla; anthers minute, versatile; ovary stipitate, contracted into a slender filiform style, with a minute terminal stigma. Legume compressed, 2-valved, dehiscent, the valves continuous or interrupted within. Seeds compressed, suspended transversely; funicle filiform or expanded into a fleshy aril; hilum near the base of the seed; seed-coat thin or thick, marked on each of the 2 surfaces of the seed by a faint oval ring or oblong depression; embryo filling the cavity of the seed; the radicle included or slightly exserted.

Pithecolobium with more than a hundred species is widely distributed through the tropical and subtropical regions of the two worlds, and is most abundant in tropical America. Of the four species found within the territory of the United States three are arborescent.

The generic name, from πίθηξ and ἐλλὸβίον, relates to the contorted fruit of some of the species.

CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES.

Pinnæ with 1 pair of leaflets; valves of the legume much contorted after opening; seed surrounded by the enlarged ariloid funicle.

1. P. unguis-cati (D).

Pinnæ with more than 1 pair of leaflets; valves of the legume not contorted after opening; funicle of the seed not enlarged and ariloid.

Pinnæ with 3—5 pairs of leaflets; legume short-stalked, the valves submembranaceous; seeds not in separate compartments.

2. P. brevifolium (E).

Pinnæ with 2—3 pairs of leaflets; legume sessile, the valves thick and woody, tardily dehiscent; seeds in separate compartments.

3. P. flexicaule (E).

1. Pithecolobium unguis-cati Mart. Cat’s Claw.

Zygia Unguis-Cati Sudw.

Leaves persistent, long-petiolate, with a single pair of bifoliolate pinnæ and a slender petiole ½′—1′ long and slightly and abruptly enlarged at base; rachis glandular between the short stout petiolules and between the orbicular or broad-oblong leaflets, rounded and rarely emarginate at apex, rounded on one side and cuneate on the other of the oblique base, entire, thin or somewhat coriaceous, reticulate-veined, bright green and lustrous on the upper surface and paler on the lower surface, ½′—2′ long, and ½′—1½′ wide. Flowers polygamous, pale yellow, glabrous or slightly puberulous, opening in Florida in March and continuing to appear until midsummer, in globular heads on slender peduncles 1′—1½′ long fascicled in the axils of upper leaves or collected in ample terminal panicles, their bracts lanceolate, acuminate, chartaceous, ¼′ long, caducous; calyx rather less than ¹/₁₂′ long, broadly toothed, one quarter as long as the acuminate petals barely exceeding the tube formed by the union of the filaments; stamens purple, ½′ long; ovary glabrous, long-stalked, minute or rudimentary in the sterile flower. Fruit slightly torulose, stipitate, rounded or acute at apex, 2′—4′ long, ¼′—½′ wide, the valves reticulate-veined, thickened on the margins, bright reddish brown and after opening greatly and variously contorted; seeds irregularly obovoid or sometimes nearly triangular, compressed or thickened, dark chestnut-brown, lustrous, marked by faint oval rings, ⅓′ long, surrounded at base by the enlarged bright red ariloid funicle; seed-coat thin, cartilaginous.

A tree, sometimes 20°—25° high, with a slender trunk 7′—8′ in diameter, ascending and spreading branches forming a low flat irregular head, and slender somewhat zigzag branchlets slightly striately angled when they first appear, becoming terete, light gray-brown or dark reddish brown, covered with minute pale lenticels, and armed with the straight persistent rigid stipular spines broad at base and ¼′ long, or rarely minute; more often a shrub, with many vine-like almost prostrate stems. Bark of the trunk ¼′ thick, reddish brown and divided by shallow fissures into small square plates. Wood very heavy, hard, close-grained, rich red varying to purple, with thin clear yellow sapwood. The bark is astringent and diuretic, and was once used in Jamaica as a cure for many diseases.

Distribution. Florida, Captive and Sanibel Islands and Caloosa, Lee County to the southern keys; most abundant in its arborescent form on the larger of the eastern keys, and probably of its largest size in Florida on Elliott’s Key; often forming shrubby thickets; on the Bahamas, and common and widely distributed through the Antilles to Venezuela and New Granada.

2. Pithecolobium brevifolium Benth. Huajillo.

Zygia brevifolia Sudw.

Leaves 2′—3′ long, 2′ wide, with eight to ten 10—20-foliolate pinnæ and slender terete petioles 1′ in length and furnished near the middle with a dark oblong gland, when they unfold coated with pale tomentum and at maturity glabrous with the exception of the puberulous petiole and rachis; persistent or tardily deciduous; leaflets oblong-linear, obtuse or acute at apex, oblique at base, very short-petiolulate, light green on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, ⅙′—¼′ long. Flowers white to violet-yellow, in globose or oblong heads ½′ in diameter, on thin pubescent peduncles bracteolate at apex, coated at first, like the flower-buds, with thick white tomentum, developed usually in pairs from the axils of lanceolate acute scarious deciduous bracts, and arranged in short terminal racemes; calyx shortly 5-lobed, puberulous on the outer surface, about ¹/₂₄′ long and one fourth the length of the puberulous petals persistent with the stamens at the base of the mature legume; stamens nearly ½′ long. Fruit ripening at midsummer and often persistent on the branches after opening until the trees flower the following year, straight, slightly torulose, short-stalked, contracted at apex into a short slender point, 4′—6′ long and ⅔′ wide, its valves thin, thick-margined, reddish brown on the outer surface, yellow tinged with red on the inner surface, reticulate-veined; seeds suspended by a slender coiled and somewhat dilated funicle, compressed, ovoid to nearly orbicular, dark chestnut-brown, very lustrous, ¼′ long, and faintly marked by large oval depressions; seed-coat thin, cartilaginous.

A tree, 25°—30° high, with a trunk rarely 5′—6′ in diameter, slender upright branches forming a narrow irregular head, and branchlets slightly striately angled, covered with minute white lenticels, light gray and puberulous when they first appear, becoming dark brown in their second year, and armed with stout rigid stipular spines sometimes ½′ long and persistent for many years; more often a shrub, sometimes only 2°—3° tall. Bark of the trunk smooth, light gray somewhat tinged with red, and often marked by large pale blotches. Wood dark-colored, hard, and heavy.

Distribution. Bluffs and bottom-lands of the lower Rio Grande, and on the upper Nueces River in Uvalde County, Texas; usually a low shrub spreading into broad clumps, but occasionally in the rich and comparatively moist soil of the banks of river-lagoons a slender tree; in Mexico more abundant, and of its largest size from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Sierra Madre of Nuevo Leon.

3. Pithecolobium flexicaule Coult. Ebony.

Zygia flexicaulis Sudw.

Leaves persistent, 1½′—2′ long, 2½′—3′ wide, long-petiolate with slender puberulous petioles glandular near the middle and furnished at apex with small orbicular solitary glands, and 4—6 usually 6-foliolate pinnæ, the lowest pair often the shortest; leaflets oblong-ovate, rounded at apex, reticulate-veined, thin or subcoriaceous, glabrous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, ¼′—⅓′ long; petiolules short and broad. Flowers light yellow or cream color, very fragrant, sessile in the axils of minute caducous bracts, appearing from June until August, in cylindric dense or interrupted spikes 1½′ long, on stout pubescent peduncles fascicled in the axils of the upper leaves of the previous year; corolla four or five times as long as the calyx and like it puberulous on the outer surface, and about as long as the tube formed by the union of the filaments; stamens ⅛′ long; ovary glabrous, sessile. Fruit ripening in the autumn and remaining on the branches until after the flowering season of the following year, sessile, tardily dehiscent, thick, straight or slightly falcate, oblique at base, rounded and contracted into a short broad point at apex, pubescent, 4′—6′ long and 1′—1¼′ wide, with thick woody valves lined with a thick pithy substance inclosing and separating the seeds; seeds suspended on a very short straight funicle, bright red-brown, ½′ long and ¼′ wide, irregularly obovoid, faintly marked by short oblong depressions; seed-coat thick, crustaceous.

A tree, 20°—30° high, with a straight trunk 2°—3° in diameter, separating 8°—10° from the ground into short spreading branches forming a wide round head, and stout zigzag branchlets, puberulous, light green or dark reddish brown when they first appear, becoming in their second year glabrous or rarely puberulous, dark reddish brown or light gray, and armed with the persistent stipular pale chestnut-brown spines ¼′—½′ long. Wood exceedingly heavy, hard, compact, close-grained, dark rich red-brown slightly tinged with purple, with thin clear bright yellow sapwood; almost indestructible in contact with the ground and largely used for fence-posts; valued by cabinet-makers and for fuel, and considered more valuable than that of any other tree of the lower Rio Grande valley. The seeds are palatable and nutritious, and are boiled when green or roasted when ripe by the Mexicans, who use their thick shells as a substitute for coffee.

Distribution. Shores of Matagorda Bay, Texas, to the Sierra Nevada of Nuevo Leon, and in Lower California; common on the bluffs of the Gulf-coast and on both banks of the lower Rio Grande; south of the Rio Grande one of the commonest and most beautiful trees of the region.

2. LYSILOMA Benth.

Trees or shrubs, with slender unarmed branchlets, abruptly bipinnate long-petiolate persistent leaves, their petioles marked by large conspicuous glands, and small leaflets in many pairs; stipules large, membranaceous, persistent or deciduous. Flowers perfect or rarely polygamous, minute, usually white or greenish white, from the axils of minute bractlets more or less dilated at apex, in globose many-flowered heads, on axillary solitary or fascicled peduncles; calyx campanulate, 5-toothed; corolla funnel-shaped, of 5 petals united for more than half their length; stamens generally 12—30, exserted; filaments filiform, united at base into a tube free from the corolla; anthers minute, ovoid, versatile; ovary sessile, contracted into a slender subulate style, with a minute terminal stigma. Legume broad, straight, compressed, submembranaceous, the valves at maturity separating from the undivided margins, continuous within, their outer layer thin and papery, dark-colored, the inner rather thicker, pale yellow. Seeds compressed, transverse, suspended by a long slender funicle, the hilum near the base; seed-coat thin, crustaceous; radicle slightly exserted.

Lysiloma with about ten species inhabits tropical America from southern Florida and the Bahama Islands, the West Indies, Mexico and Lower California, to Central America and Bolivia. Several of the species produce valuable timber.

The generic name, from λύσις and λῶμα, refers to the separation of the valves from the margins of the legume.

1. Lysiloma bahamensis Benth. Wild Tamarind.