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

1982] CASSIINAE—CASSIA 35
s.-e. Veracruz and Tabasco, thence just reaching the Pacific slope near Tehuan­
tepec in Oaxaca; coUected once (perhaps cultivated) in Guayas, Ecuador, long
cultivated and locally naturalized on Cuba, and a prized ornamental tree of Old
and New World tropical botanic gardens.—Fl. I-IV, sometimes earher in Brazil
and s. Venezuela, usuaUy when annotinous foliage is faUing or mostly fallen and
new leaves begin to unfold.—Cahafistola sabanera.
V. ser. HETEROSPERMAE Irwin & Barneby
Cassia ser. Heterospermae Irwin & Barneby, ser. nov., leguminis cavitate septis
fere obsoletis continuo necnon seminibus obhque basipetis de latere
(valvulis parallele) compressis inter congeneres unicae, caeterius bracteis
bracteohsque caducis, racemis pendulis necnon antheris staminum
ante petalos sitorum erectis ser. Moschatis simUes sed ab eis petahs
radiatim apertis fere planis antherisque staminum 3 longorum obtusis-
simis (nee apiculatis) diversae.—Sp. unica: C. hintoni Sandwith.
Bracts and bracteoles caducous long before anthesis; petals (yellow) rotately
expanded at full anthesis, plane or nearly so, shed before the sepals; anthers
pUosulous, those of 4 fertUe antepetalous stamens erect, those of 3 long sigmoid
ones obtuse; septa of pod incomplete or almost lacking, the seeds obhquely basipetal
and laterally compressed parallel to the valves, their hilum near base of
one rim.—1 sp. of s. Mexico.
Cassia hintoni has almost the foliage of C. moschata and similarly pUant racemes
pendulous from annotinous branchlets, but the corolla is rotately expanded
Uke that of C. fistula and the subunilocular, internally thinly pulpy pod with its
basipetal, laterally compressed seeds are without peer in the genus. The pod's
plush-like indumentum recurs in South American C. (ser. Tetrapleurae) fastuosa
war. fastuosa and in African C. abbreviata Oliv.; this striking phenetic character
seems to lie deep in the genetic potential of the genus and is only randomly
realized, in species not closely related to each other.
9. Cassia hintoni Sandwith, Kew BuU. Misc. Inf. 1936: 5. 1936.—"Mexico. State
of Mexico: District of Temascaltepec; Nanchititla . . . Feb. 23rd, 1933,
Hinton 3440 (typus); Limones, 960 m . . . Jan 30th, 1934, Hinton 5570;
Ixtapan . . . May 3rd, 1935, Hinton 7727."—Holotypus, K! = NY
Neg. 1424; isotypi, G, MEXU! paratypi, Hinton 5570, 7727, K, NY,
US!
Shrubs and slender trees at anthesis 2-17(-20) m with grayish-brown, in age
lenticeUate, vertically fissuring bark, the hornotinous branchlets, foliage and axes
of inflorescence finely pilosulous with erect or forwardly incumbent hairs up to
0.2-0.5 mm, the loose racemes of large fls pendulous from leafless annotinous
branchlets, the foUage deciduous during the dry season.
Stipules subulate 0.7-1.7 mm caducous.
Lvs up to 15-23 cm (some on immature spurs coeval with fls shorter, not
further described); petiole including httle-dilated pulvinus 25-35 mm, at middle
0.7-1.1 mm diam, obscurely sulcate ventrally; rachis ± 12-20 cm, the interfoholar
segments 9-14 mm; pulvinules ±0.7-1 mm; lfts (9-)14-18 pairs subisomorphic,
oblong or ovate-oblong obtuse apiculate ±20-35 x 7.5-12 mm, at inequilateral
base broader on distal side, the blades submembranous, the pallid midrib with
5-8 pairs of slender secondary veins prominulous only beneath, tertiary venula­
tion immersed.