Geoffraea
(named after Dr. M. E. F. Geoffroy, of Paris, 1672-1731, author of a Materia Medica). Bastard Cabbage-tree. SYN. Geoffroya. ORD. Leguminosoe. A genus comprising four species of stove ever-green thorny or unarmed trees, natives of tropical America. Flowers yellow, often foetid, in simple racemes. Seeds edible. Leaves alternate, impari-pinnate; leaflets alternate or sub-opposite. Geoffraeas thrive in a compost of loam and peat. Propagated by cuttings, made of ripened shoots, and inserted in sand, under a bell glass, in heat.
G. spinulosa (spinulose). fl., racemes forming a spreading panicle. l., leaflets ovate, obtuse, pubescent, and reticulated beneath; petioles winged. Branches covered with a spongy bark. Trunk unarmed. Brazil. G. superba (superb). fl. yellow, in simple racemes the length of the leaves. fr. about the size and form of a walnut, having a greenish-yellow downy rind, a fleshy pulp, and a hard nut, inclosing a single seed. l. closely resembling those of the Tamarind-tree, shining and puberulous above, but glaucous and paler beneath. h. 24ft. Brazil. A magnificent tree.