Agati, a tree from Malabar that is four to five times the height of a man with a trunk of approximately six feet in circumference. Its branches grow out from its middle and from its top and spread much more towards the top, or much more vertically than horizontally; it grows in sandy places. Its root is black, astringent to the taste, and spreads secondary roots over a large distance. Its wood is soft and gets softer closer to the core. If one makes an incision in the bark, it releases a clear, watery liquid that thickens and becomes gummy shortly after its release. Its leaves are winged. They are a span and a half long. They are formed by two principal leaflets united to a main stem and directly opposite each other. Their petiole is very short and curved in the front. The small leaflets are oblong and round on the edges. They are approximately a thumb and a half in length and a finger’s width wide. This width is the same at their tip as at their base. Their tissue is extremely compact and connected; with bright green on the top, pale green on the bottom, and a smell of crushed beans. From the large vein, spread slender secondary veins that cover the entire surface of the leaves. These leaves close during the night, that is to say that their leaflets approach each other.

The flowers are papilionaceous, odorless, and grow four by four or five by five or in even greater numbers on a small stem that protrudes from between the wings of the leaves. They are composed of four petals of which one rises above the others. The lateral petals form an angle, and are thick, white, and streaked by veins, white at first, then yellow, and then red. The stamens of the flowers form an angle and are distributed at their end by two filaments that have two yellow and oblong tips. The calyx that surrounds the base of the petals is deep, composed of four sepals or short leaves, rounded and pale green.

When the flowers have fallen, they are replaced by pods four palms long and as wide as a finger, straight and slightly rounded, green and thick. These pods contain rounded oblong beans, each placed in a compartment separated from another compartment by a fleshy membrane that runs the entire length of the pod; the beans taste like ours and look like them, except that they are much smaller. They whiten as they mature; they can then be eaten. If the weather is rainy, this tree will produce fruit three or four times a year.

Its root, crushed in cow’s urine, dissipates tumors. The sap taken from the bark, mixed with honey and gargled, is good for sore throats and ulcers of the mouth. I could still report other properties of the different parts of this tree: but they would not be more accurate ones, and my account would add nothing to that of [John] Ray, from which the preceding description is taken.