r pr 



148 CONTRTBUTIOXS FROM THE NATTOINTAL HERBARIUM. 



in Iho prnnoval forest of Mount Mala Pasqua. — St. Thomas, St, Croix (West), Antigua 

 (Grisobacli), Gaudeloupe^ Doinliuca, Martinique, St. Lucia (Benthani), St. Vincent. 

 Thiri plant is perhaps ftnind on the South American continent, but M, obovala is 

 often mistaken for it. 



Local name, zarza. 



9. DESMANTHUS Willd. 



AcuanU^mc, Tlieod. 62. 178G. 

 Desmanthus Willd, Sp. PI. 4: 1044. 1805, 

 Desmanthea DC\ Prod, 2: 444. 1825, as section. 



Flowers 5-morouF:, sessile, hermaphrodite or the lowt^r ones male or neuter; calyx 

 campannlate, shortly toothed; petals free or slightly cohering; stamens 10 or 5, free, 

 exscrted; ovary subseseile, niuUiovulate; style subulate, or sometimes incrasyate above; 

 stigma terminal, truncate, concave; legume liiu'ar, straight or curved, compressed, con- 

 tinuous or sliglitly septate, 2-valved, the valves adhering to thesutural replum; seeds 

 compressed, subrhomboidal. Perennial herbs or nndershrubs; leaves bii)innate, 

 leaflets small; stipules setace<^^)us, persistent; flower-heads subglol^ose, often pauciflorous, 

 solitary J axillary. 



L Desmanthus virgatus (L.) Willd. 



(Urban, 2GS.) 



Undershrubj decumbent or ascending, 2 to 3 meters high; pinnae 1 to 7-jugate, petiole 

 bearing an ovate-oblong gland between the lowest pair; leaflets 10 to 20-j\igato, oblong- 

 linear, 5 to 8 mm. long, 2 jum. wide; flower-heads with a few white flowers, 5 to 9 mm. 

 in diameter; legume straight or slightly falcate, C to 8 cm, long, 2 mm. wide, 20 to 



30'seeded. 



Near Guani(^a, on the sca^shore at Caiio Gurdo and on dry p^rassy tracts around the 

 lagoon; near Mayaguez, at the fortress. — Bermuda (Hemsley), Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, 

 Gaudeloupe, Martinique, Grenada. Tropical and subtropical America; common from 

 Buenos Ayres to the West Indies. Tropical Asia; probably introduced into East India. 



Local nanu^, desmanto rayado. 



2. Desmanthus virgatus strictus (Bertol.) Griseb. 



• (Urban, 268.) 



Shrub 0.5 to 2 meters high or small tree 3 to 4 meters high; flowers white. 



Near Fajardo, on roadside; near Aibonito, between Algarrobo and Cariblanco; near 

 Coamo, about Salinas; near Penuclas, on shady slopes of Mount Llano; near Guanica, 

 on the margins of woods between La Boca and Barinas and about lagoons; near Salinas 

 de Cabo Rojo, in the coast districts, near Aguadilla. — Bahama, Cuba, Haiti, St. Thomas, 

 St. Croix, St. Bartholomew (Stockholm Herbarium), Martinique, St. Vincent, Bar- 

 bados, Tobago. 



Variety ulr'uius in Porto Rico and also in the other islands differs obviously from the 

 type and is caiiily distinguished from it. 



10. NEPTUNIA Lour. 



Neptunia Lour. F1. Cochinch. 2: G53. 1790. 

 Hemidesma Raf. Sylva Tellur. 119. 1838. 



L 



Flowers 5-merous, sessile^ the upper hermaphrodite, the lower masculine or neuter; 

 calyx campanulate, shortly toothed; petals cohering to the middle or free; stamens 10, 

 rarely 5, exserted; ovary sessile, multiovulate; style filiform, with a small, terminal, 

 concave stigma; legume shortly and broadly oblong, oblique and almost at right angles 



with the short stipes, the apex rounded but with a distinct apiculum, compressed, thinly 



