when he tells us, that the plant is called Caracalla^ in that 

 country; but that the right name is the one we find in 

 Brotero, viz. Caracoleiro (i.e. snail-plant); from Caracol, 

 the Portuguese word for Snail. 



Brotero speaks of it as a subarborescent shrub; with us 

 it has been looked upon as a pei-ennial herbaceous plant. 

 Stem twining, from 1*2 to 20 feet high. Leaves very like 

 those of the Common Kidney Bean, only smaller. Calyx 

 bilabiate, upper lip emar^nate, lower tridentate. Vexillum 

 (standard) cordate, obtuse, emarginate, reclined, with de- 

 flex sides: alte (wings) ovate, the length of the vexillum, 

 with long ungues: carina (keel) narrow, twisted spirally. 

 Filaments truly diadelphous, twisted spirally within the 

 carina. Germen oblong, compressed, villous. Style fili- 

 form, spirally twisted, pubescent at the upper part: stigma 

 obtuse, thickisb, villous. Pod long, straight, coriaceous, 

 obtuse with a point : seeds reniform, oblong, compressed. 



The seed is seldom produced in England. 



The twisted carina is a principal feature in the generic 

 character of Phaseolus. In the present spedes the vesdUiun 

 is likewise twisted. 



