PEKKIKS THE LEGUIVLINOSAE OF PORTO lUCO. 



191 



NearBayamon; near Aibonito, at Cari-Blanfo; near Coamo, in the valley of El Fuerte 

 River, in meadows around 8erillos at Salinas, and on grassy dcclivitieR toward Ail>on^ 

 ito; near Juana Diaz, along r(^ads around Escalahrado ; near PeniU'las in the rocky plains 

 at Tallal)oa Alta; near Mayaguez; near Rincon, in iilains at Barrio del Pueblo.— Cuba 

 Janiaiea, St. Thomas, St. Cioix (Eggers), St. Jolm (Egg(^rs;), Antigua (Grisebach), Gua- 

 deloupe, Martinique (Duss), St. Vincent, Union {Kew Bull. no. 81, p. 245), Barbados, 

 Trinidad (Grisebach). Common in tropical America; found also in the East Indies, 

 Africa, and the Polynesian Islands. 



T.ocal namOj zarzahacoa espiral. 



11. Besmodium scorpiurus (Sw.) Desv. 



(Urban, 293.) 



Procumbent, rooting at the base; stem angular; leaflets 3, oval or oldong, 1.5 to 4 

 cm. long, 1 to 1.5 cm. wide, roTinded at tlie ap(^x, clothed on both surfaces with long, 

 silky, apprcHsed hairs; calyx 2.5 to 3 mm. deep, deeply cleft; corolla slightly exceed- 

 ing the calyx, peach-colored, rose, or ])urpl(^, becoming white; pod subsesf^ile, 

 uncinate-pubescent, slightly constricted at tin? dissepiments, the joints 2 to 7, oval- 

 linear, minutely truncate at both ends, the tc^rminal pointed. 



In Bayanion around the church; near the town in iields; near Fajardn in cultivated 

 places; between Aibonito and Algarrobo on precipices near tlu^ n)ads; l)etween 

 Aibonito and Coamo on declivities; near Coamo, on Mount Santanaand in the valley 

 of El Fuerte River; near Utuado, in ravines at San Andres; near Calx> Rojo, on hills 

 toward Joyuda.— Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, St. Thomas (Grisebach), St, Croix (Eggers), 

 Antigua (Grisebach), Gtuideloupe, Doniinica (Grisebach), Martinique, St. Vincent, 

 Grenada, Trinidad, Margarita.— Mexico, Central America, Ecuador, Peru, 



A plant common in ]>astures. 



Local name, zarzahacoa cola de escorpion, 



44. ALYSICARPUS Neck. 

 Alydiw pus Neck. Eh^rn. 3: 15. 1790. 



r 



Fabricia Scop. Introd, 1^07. 1777, not vVdans. i7ti;i. 



Ilegetschweilera Heeu <fe Rkoel, Cat. Sem, Horl. Turic. 1842; l>ot. Zeit, 1: 47. ISlih 



Calyx deeply cleft, the lobes stiff and dry, striate, subequal, the two upper ones 

 connate almost to the apex; standard orbicular or obovate, narrowed into a claw; 

 witigs obliquely oblong, adherent to the keel; keel obtuse, slightly incurved, usually 

 with a little membrane on the outside on both margins; npjx^r stamen free; ovary 

 eesyile or substipitate, muUiovulate; style filiform, inflc^xed upwards; stigma termi- 

 nal;, sometimes oblique^ usually broadly cai)itate; pod terete oi- somewhat compressed, 

 equal or constricted betwcHMi the articulations, these rouTidish or truncate at the 

 ends and indehiscent; 8<*(nls ovate or orl>icuhir. — Erect or diffuse herbs, glabrous or 

 loosely hairy; leaves simple in our species ((tr v(Ty rarely 3-foliate); stipules mem- 

 branous, Bcarioup, acuminate, free or connat<*; flowers small, in terminal or rarely 

 axdlary racemes, the pedicels usually in pairs; bracts and )>racteoles usually i^carious, 

 caducous. 



1. Alysicarpus nummularifolius (L.) DC.f* 



(Urban, 294.) 



A perennial, tufted or much I^ranched at lh(^ base, the stcjus decumbent or ascend- 

 ing, from a few centimeters to 25 cm. long, glabrous or .slightly pubescent; leaves on 

 short slender petioles, the lower ones cordate-orbicular or oval, not 1.2 cm, long, the 



^U^ook and roHius, p. 74, as Ahjsicarpus vaginalis 



257:j4— VOL 10, i>T 4— U7 



5 



