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PERKINS — THE LEGUMIXOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 



187 



1. Desmodium barbatum (L.) Benth. 



(Urban, 290.) 



Suffrutescent, erect, or ascending, 30 to GO cm. higli; leaflets 3, elliptical-oblong^^, 

 obovale, or elliptical-lanceolate, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 4 to 7 mm. wide, above glabrous 

 or HubpilosCj beneath appressed-villosu; calyx 4.4 mm. deep, at length nodding, very 

 long brown-pilose, the teeth lanceolatowetaceous, the tube very short; corolla light 

 blue or purple, about as long as the calyx; legume 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 2 mm. wide, 

 indehiscent, the upper suture straight, the lower somewhat indented, reflexedj 2 to 

 4-jfnnted. 



Near Bayanion, in sandy places; near Lares, in ravines at Espino; near Cabo Rojo, 

 on hills toward Joyuda; near Mayaguez, on the slopes of Mount Mesa; near Aguada, 

 in rocky districts at Rosario; near Manati, on plains at Garrochales. — Cuba (Grise- 

 Lach), Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, St. Lucia^ Tobago, Trinidad, In tropical America, 

 a connnon plant, in pastures, and on the roadside. Also introduced into the Old 

 World. 



The short, many-flowered racemes and tlie deep, d(»nsely plumose calyx make this 

 common plant of the Tropics easily recoginzed. 



Local name^ zarzahacoa peluda. 



2, Desmodium triflorum (L.) DC.« 



(Urban, 289,) 



Stem widely creeping, copiously and diffusely branched, forming a dense matted 

 cluster, the branches slender, glabrous or thinly t^'lotlied with line spreading silky hairs; 

 stipules lanceolate, acuminate, 4.4 mm. deep; leaflets 3, broadly obovate, terminal one 

 8.5 to 11 mm. long and nearly as broad, lateral ones smaller, botli sides glaljrous or 

 subglabrous; flowers blue (Urban); ealyx 4 mm. deep, silky, teeth reaching more 

 than halfway down; corolla reddish or white (Oliver), fragrant, about equaling the 

 calyx; pod 1.1 to 1.7 cm, long, 4 mm. wide, the lower suture waved one-third of the 

 way down; articulations 4 to G, the faces subglabrous. 



Near Nagua1>o in fields around Hacienda Oriento; near Cayey along roads tmvard 



f 



Cidra; near Coamo, in the valley of El Tendal lUver on grassy slopes; near Cabo Rojo 

 on hills toward Joyuda; near Rincon in meadows at Barrio del Pueblo. — Cuba, Jamaica, 

 Cayman, Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John (Eggers), St. Bartholomew (Stock- 

 holm Herbarium), St. Kitts, Antigua (Grisebach), Guadeloupe^ Martinique, St. Vin- 

 cent, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad. Mexico to Brazil, tropical Africa, East Indies. 



Desmodkiin trijlorum is a common weed of the Tropics. The fresh leaves are used 

 medicinally. In India Roxburgh says that this is very common (m pasture grounds 

 and helps to form the most beautifnl turf; further, that cattle are very fond of it. 

 ^Miiller recomincmds its cultivation in regions ton hot for clover. Another author 

 says that in India it springs up on all s<nls, supplying there the place of Trifolium and 

 Medicago. 



Local name, zarzahacoa de Ires Jlorcs. 



3. Desmodium adscendens (Sw.) DC. 



(Urban, 290.) 



An undershrub 1 to 1.3 meters high, with ascending woody branches; leaflets 3, 

 obovate, L8 to 2.5 cm. long, sometimes nearly as broad as deep, the apex rounded, 

 subcoriaceous, uppt^r surface glal^rous, lower finely adpressed-silky; racemes often 15 



a For illustration see Cook and Collins, y?y. 12, p. ISO (as Meiboima Irijlora). 



