PERKINS THE LEGUMJNOSAE OF POETO ETCO, 147 



minute, 1 as long as the corulla, rupulatc, .sliglUly diviileilj wilh G to 8 subatipitate 

 glands i)n the margin; corolla 1^ nun. long; legume subsessile, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter, 

 L5 to 4 rm. long, aculeate; seeds subreetangular, 4,5 to 5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide, 

 Ijlack. 



Near Coamo, in the moimhiin forests of San Ildefonso and on ,^hady slopes in El 

 Tendal Valley. Indigenous. 



Local namOj cuernecillo. 



8. MIMOSA L. 



Mimosa L. Sp. PL 1: 510. 1a53. 

 LomopliH Raf. Rylva Tellur. 118. 1838, 



Flowers 4 or 5, rar(4y 3 to G-merous^ hermaphrodite^ or polygamous; calyx usually 

 small, sometimes wanting or pah^aoform, often laciniate or fimbriate, rarely campan- 

 ulate and short-toothed; corolla, campanulatc^ or funnelf(jrm; stamens (as many as 

 or) twice as many as the petals, free, exserted; ovary sessile or substipilate, 2 to 

 many-seeded; stylo fdamentose; legume oblong or linear, compressed, rarely incras- 

 sated, membranous or coriaceous, valves separating entire or in transverse segnK^nts 

 from the persistent sutural replurn; seeds ovate or oblong, flat. — Decumbent or erect 

 herbs, scandent underslirubs, or trees, unarmed or a<^'uleate; leaves bipinnate, rarely 

 wanting or reducc^l to a leaflike stem; petiolar glands present; flowers smalL in glo- 

 bose heads or cylindrical spikc^s, axillary or racemose toward the extremities, soli- 

 tary or fascicled. 



KEY TO Tlir: SPECIES. 



Pinnae^ 2-jugate, rarely 1-jugat(s leaflets 15 to 25-jugate; petiole and 

 peduncle* unarmed; h^gume 1.5 t(^ 2 cm. long, 4 mm. wide, covered 

 with recurved bristles. 



Pinnae 3 to 5-jugat(*; leaflets 3-jugate; petioh^ and peduncle armed; 

 legume 5 to 5.5 cm. long, 2 cm. wide, with large recurved prickh^s 



1. 3/. pvdica. 



on the margins. 



2. M. ccratonia 



1. Mimosa pudica L. 

 (Urban, 267.) 



Undershrub or an herb, often scandent, armed with infrastipular and scattered 

 prickles; leaflets oblong-linear, pointed, ciliale with adpressed bristles, glabrescent, 

 10 to 11 nun. long, 2 mm, wide, membranous; flower-heads oval. 



Near Bayamon; near Maricao, along roads; near Mayaguez, around the fortress.^ 



Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts (Grisebach), Antigua (do.), 

 Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia (Grisebach), St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, 

 Trinidad. Continental tropical America, tropical Asia, probably introduced. 



A common weed in most parts of the region, naturalized also in many parts ai tropical 



Africa. 



A medicament is ma<le from th(^ roots, leaves, and seeds of Mimosa pudica that is 

 used by the country people. 



Local names, morivivi^ morir-vivir , sensitiva. Sensitive plant. 



2. Mimosa ceratonia L. 



(Urban, 2fi7.) 



Shrub 4 meters high, decumbent or ascending; branches and petioles armed with 

 small recurved prickles; leaflets obovate or orbiculate, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, membran- 

 ous, 3-nerved; flower-heads gl(jbos(\ racemose toward the extremities; white- 

 Near Bayamon; near Yabucua, in mountain woods at Guayabota; near Maunabo, in 

 thickets at Punta de la Tuna; near ^layaguez, uu the slopes of Mount Mesa; near Manat i 



