^' ' . ..'.-- ^^/l i_- ^ " J^' -^^V .H-. ,. 



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190 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



3 to G cm. long, 3 to 5 cm. wide, above shorlly pilose, honoatli ?uV)glal>n>ns; inflores- 

 cence 10 to 15 cm. long; calyx about 2 mm. long; llowers violet; standard suborbicular 

 or orbicular-ovate, 4 mm. long; stamens 9; pod (immalure) with 2 or 3 articulaticms. 

 Eastern part of the island (Scluvanecko, Wydler).— Grenada, Tobago. 



8. Desmodium molle (Vahl) DC. 



(Urban, 292.) 



Erect; stem ^^hrul>by; branclies herbaceous, striate, 1.3 to 2 meterri high; haflets 3, 

 ovate, 4 to 5 cm, long, ].25 to 2.75 cm. wide, membranaceous, pubescent on both sides; 

 stipules subulate-setaceous; flowt^s very small, 3.3 mm. long, greenish outside, riai'k 

 bbu^ within; calyx segments linear, long; pod nu'mbranaceous, flat; articulations at 

 first elliptical, reniform with a lateral notch when mature, 6.5 to 8.5 mm. long. 4.4 to 



5 mm. wide. 



Near Coamo in meadows between Serillos and >Salinas; near Juana Diaz, along mads 

 about Escalabrado; near Guanica, on declivities at Punta de la Meseta and in thickets 

 at Montalba. — Jamaica (Grisebach), Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix (Vuhl), Martinique, 

 Curayao, Central America, South America, 



The legume of D. molle is quite unlike that of any other P(jrto Rican Desmodium. 

 It has a pod Avith 2 elbptical articulatiims, of wliich the upper is enlarged and fertile, 

 and wlum mature has \.\ lateral notch. This is the only pod with a reniforju art iculalion 

 within this genus in Porto Pico. 



r 



9. Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC* 



' (Urban, 293.) 



Erect, 0.5 to 1.5 meters high; stemstriate, cylin<lrical, the down uncinate; leaflets 3, 

 ovate or ovate-oldong, the terminal one 2.5 to 10 cm. long, 1 lo 4,5 cm. wide, Iiispidu- 

 lous or glabropcent; pedicels filiform, longer than the flower; flowers small, purple or 

 pale blue; calyx 2 to 3 mm. deep; corolla 5 to (5 mm. long; pods AA'ith 2 to 6 articula- 

 tion^, constricted nearly to the center. 



Near Bayamon, in shady localities and along roads toward Toa Baja; near Fajardo 

 in cultivated places; near Maunabo on shady slopes between Emajagua and Punta del 

 Naranjo; betw^een Aibonito and Algarrobo in steep jdacesat the roadside; near Panan- 

 quitas, on declivities at Isabon; between Aibonito and Coamo along roads; near Coamo, 

 at Salinas; near Tuana Diaz along roads; near Pefuudasou the top of MounI Vi and on 

 plains around Mount Llano; near Guanica on gravelly banks around Parinas; near 

 Mayaguez; near Rincon, in the mountains at Calvache and on th<^ plains toward 

 Agnada. — Cuba, Jamaica, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Dominica, ^tartiniquo, 

 St. Vincent, Pequia (Koav Pull, no, 81, p. 24f>), Mustique (do.), Grenada, Central 

 America, North America, South America. 



Local name, zarzahacoa, junqniUo. 



10. Desmodium splrale (Sw.) DC. 



(Urban, 293.) 



Stems annual, 30 to 45 cm. high, slender, diffuse, slightly pubescent; petioles L2 to 

 2.5 cm. long; leaflets 3, the terminal one roundish or ovate, 2.5 to 5 cm. long; 1.2 to 2.5 

 cm. broad, the lateral ones smaller, subpapyraceous, both sides green, glabrous; pedi- 

 cels 6.5 to 8.5 mm. long, spre&.ding, very slender, glabrous; flcnvers in Porto Rican 

 siK'cimens always wdiite; calyx 2.2 mm. long, deeply cleft; corolla slightly exceeding 

 the calyx, greenish variegated with purple; pod 9 to 12 mm. long, 2.2 mm. wide; articu- 

 lations 4 to 6, separated by very narrow spaces, often spirally twusted. 



