Cassiinae pt 1 NY-Botanical_gardens_Vol. 35_1 - Copy.pdf - Antbase

236 MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [VOL. 35
the ocean, scattered along the coastal plain of s.-e. BrazU between extreme s.
Bahia (near Alcoba^a) and s.-w. Rio de Janeiro.—Fl. XII-IV(-VIII).
Senna australis is the coastal analogue of interior S. velutina, readily distin­
guished by ecology and dispersal but only precariously separated in morpholog­
ical terms by the broader, more simply venose, less pubescent leaflets, always
lustrous and glabrous above, and the dorsaUy glabrous inner sepals. The pod,
said by Bentham to be glabrous, but pubescent in aU modern coUecrions, may be
on the average a trifle broader than that of 5". velutina, but is structuraUy identical,
as are the perianths and androecia. The material ofS. australis that we have seen
is virtuaUy monomorphic and shows no sign of that variarion in development of
the always foliaceous amplexicaul stipules which is a feature of kindred S. ve­
lutina.
In abandoning for this species the name Cassia appendiculata, used by Ben­
tham, we foUow Burkart (1957, I.e.) and the Code. The supposed obstacle to C.
australis Veil, is merely the later homonym C. australis Sims, a taxonomic syn­
onym of C. odorata Morris (cf. Symon, 1966, p. 102). Although no authentic
specimen of C. australis VeU. is known to survive, its identity has been plainly
known to aU students of Cassia through the vividly exact portrait in VeUozo's
Icones.
62. Senna lechriosperma Irwin & Barneby, sp. nov., S. velutinae et S. australi
arete affinis et cum iis leguminis valvulis nervo crasso submediano
longitrorsus percursis congrua, foliolis latis (sed apice deltatim sub­
acutis nee emarginatis) sepalisque intimis dorso glabris huic forsan
propior, ab ambabus legumine latiori plano-compresso ± 9-10 (nee ±
2-5) mm lato et seminibus transversis ideoque leguminis locuUs laUoribus
quam longioribus, his notis ab aliis seriei Laxiflorarum speciebus
insigniter diversa.—BRAZIL. Pernambuco: Fazenda Experimental de
Pesqueira, 23.XI.1962 (fl,fr), /. C. Gomes i247.—Holotypus, NY.
Shrubs of unknown stature, except for more acute lfts resembling C. australis
in general habit, apart from dorsally glabrous inner sepals rusty-pUosulous or
-strigulose throughout with ascending or subappressed, straight or sinuous hairs
up to 0.5-0.8 mm, the young stems, lf-stalks and axes of inflorescence densely,
the bicolored foliage more thinly so, the (dry) lfts brownish, above dull or sublustrous,
beneath paler dull, ± pUosulous on both faces, the inflorescence wholly
of C. australis.
Stipules fohaceous persistent, reflexed against stem, very obhquely incurved-
semicordate 10-15 x 4-10 mm, at base dUated into a broadly obtuse descending
amplexicaul auricle, at apex contracted into a slender, sometimes setiform acumen,
the blades radiaUy venulose from point of attachment, pubescent on both
faces.
Lvs 6.5-14.5 cm; petiole including httle differentiated pulvinus 7-21 mm, at
middle ±1-1.5 mm diam, beyond middle shallowly open-sulcate; rachis
(2-)2.5-5.5 cm; glands (often eaten) between aU pairs of lfts stipitate, including
the usually puberulent stipe 1.5-3 mm, the ovoid acute or fusiform body 0.45-1.1
mm diam; pulvinules 2-3.5 mm, densely pUosulous; lfts (2-)3^, in most aduU lvs
exacriy 4 pairs, accrescent distally, the distal pair obliquely obovate or eUiptic-
obovate from inequUaterally rounded or subcordate base, (4-)4.5-8.5 x 2-4 cm,
1.6-2.1 times as long as wide, at apex deltate-mucronulate, the margins revolute,
the centric straight or shghriy incurved midrib with 9-11 pairs of major campto­
drome secondary veins immersed above, strongly prominulous beneath, the ter-