L (7. obhisifolia. 



210 CONTETBUTIONS FROM THE l^ATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



■ 



often gland-like or none; flowers usually large, purplish, pink, or white, in axillary 

 racemes; pedicels very short, clustered on lateral nodes along the upper portion of the 

 rachis; bracts minute; hracteoles small, orbicular, A^ery deciduous. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Leaflets obovate or orbieulate, very obtuse or retuse, membranous 

 or subpapyraceous; pod oblong, 5 to 13 cm. hmg, 2 to 3 cm. wide; 

 seeds G to 8, chestnut-brown with a blac^k spot, opaque, ovoid, 



1.5 cm. long, 1 cm. wide. 

 Leaflets chartaceous or chartaccous-coriaceous, ovate or narrowly 

 ovate, very shortly and acaitely acuminate; pod oblong-linear, 

 12 to 25 cm. long; seeds ovate-rotundate, 18 to 24 mm. long, 15 

 to 20 mm, wide, wine-colored, 4 to 6-seeded. ' 2, 0. ruaiospenna 



1. Canavalia ol)tusifolia (Lam/) DC, 



(Urban, 30G.) 



Stem biennial, clindiing or sometimes prostrate; petiole 5 to 7.5 cm. h)ng; leaflets 

 7.5 to 10 cm. long, 5 to 6 cm. wi(k- flowers in IG down to 12-flowered racemes on long 

 flcxuose peduncles; pedicels stout, 4 to 6 mm. long, springing from fl(^sliy tubercles; 

 calyx broad'Campanulate, 1.2 cm. deep, the upper lip rounded, bifid, glabrous; corolla 

 reddish-purple, fragrant; standard 1.8 to 2.5 cm. long; pod with two prominent ribs a 

 little distant from the upper suture. 



In coast districts near Yal)ucoa; in thickt^ts at Puerto do la Vaca; near Tatilhis, at 

 Guardaraya; near Guanica, at Salinas; near Mayaguez.— South Florida (Chapman), 

 Bermuda (Hemsley), Bahama, Cuba, Jamaica, Cayman, Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix, 

 St. John (Eggers), Antigua (Grisebach), Sandy Island, Cniadeloupe, Dominiea (Grise- 

 bach), Martinique, St. Vincent, Bequia (Kew B\dl. No. 81, p. 246), Grenada, Tol)ago, 

 Trinidad (Grisebach). Widely dispersed through the tropics of both hemispheres and 

 often cultivated, C. obtimfolia is a characteristic plant of sandy s(nishores, where it 

 often creeps among stones. According to Balfour it *' isauseful binder of loose sand." 



The ovate leaves, the long pod, and the large wine-colored seeds of C.nisiospcrwa 

 make it easy to distinguish from C. obtuslfolia, which has obovate or orbicular leaves, a 

 shorter pod, and chestnut-brown seeds. 



Local name, viaio dc la playa. 



2. Canavalia rusiosperma Urb. 



(Urban, 305.) 



Stem twining, reaching 10 cm. in thickness, climbing on high trees; petiole 3.5 to 8 

 cm. long; leaflets G,5 to 10 cm. long, 4 to 5.5 cm. \vidc; inflorescence 5 to 25 cm. long; 

 calyx 11 mm. long, upper lobes 6 to 7 mm., lower ones 1 to 2 mm. long, thinly pilose or 

 glabrous; petals red (Stahl) or violet (Eggers); standard 2 to 2.3 cm. long; pod 12 to 25 

 cm. long, 4 to 5 cm . wide with two prominent ribs a little distant from the upper sutures. 



In the primeval forests near Maricao, on Mount Montoso; near Lares at Callejfmes; 

 near Quebradillas.— Haiti, St. Thomas. 



Local name, maio Colorado. 



62. CAJANUS PC. 



Cajan Adans. Fam. 2: 320, 529. J7C3. 

 Cajanus DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 85. 1813. 

 Cayiniim Eaf. Sylva Tellur. 25. 1838. 



Calyx campanulate, with tlio two upper teeth connate, the others equal; standard 

 orbicular, reflexed, the base appendiculate with inflexed auricles; wings obliquely 

 obovate; keel with an incurved apex, truncate; upper stamen free, the others connate; 

 anthers uniform; ovary subsessile, multiovulate; style incrassate above the middle, 



