^ ^ . - ,■ . 



PERKINS THE LEGUMTNOSAE OF POKTO EICO. 215 



'Siiiap" beans. The mature needs, of which there are a number of different colors, are, 

 on account of the abundance of legumin and starch, very nutritious, but also .somewhat 

 difFicult to digest. They arc consumed in large quantities^ cooked in various ways^ in 

 Mexico, the United States, and Europe. A small white variety, the "navy bean/' is 

 used for victualing ehips. The meal made from the .seeds was formerly and is even yet 

 utcd for poultices and is a component part of rouge. 

 Local name, hahichuela, 



3. Phaseolus caracalla L. 



{Url>an, 808,) 



Stems woody ut the base, high-twining, glabrous or subpubescent; stipules ovate 

 or oblong; petiole often reaching 1 foot in length; leaflets usually 30 cm. long, 10 cm. 

 wide, membranaceous; peduncle about 30 cm. long; nodes thickened, pedicels about 

 1.2 cm. long; flowers about 2.5 cm. long, fragrant, purplish-lilac, or yellow and orange 

 mixed; calyx about 1 cm. long, larg(?, often colored, glabrous; lobes short, broad, very 

 obtuse, uppermost one bifid, all much sliorter than the tube; petals all more or less 

 twisted, keel3 or4 times twisted; h^gumo straight, pendulous, 15 cm. long, acuminate, 



glabrous, torulose. 



Cultivated near Mayaguez.— Native country, South America. 



Local ]iame, caracoL 



4. Phaseolus antillanus Urb. 



(Urban, 309.) 



Stems twining, 7 meters long; stipules ol)long or obliqntdy ovate-oblong. 3 to 4 mm. 

 long, the apex obtuse; petiole with rnirrow and obliquely ovate stipels, reaching 2 

 mm. inlength; l(^aflets3, the central otic triangular or oval e-oblong, shortly acuminate, 

 5 to 7 cm. long, 3 to 5 cm. wide with a potiolule 1 to 2 cm. long, the lateral ones very 

 unequal-sided, i)bliquely ovate, truncate at the base, with a petiolule 2 to 3 mm. long, 

 all membranaceous when dry, shortly and thinly pilose or subglabrons; peduncle 7 

 to 30 cm. long, with 2 to 5 nodes above; bracts, ovate-oblong obtuse, 2 to -1 mm. long; 

 pedicel 1 to 2 mm. long; calyx 5 to G nun. long, glabrous or above thinly pilose, shortly 

 ciliate on the margin; tube campanulate; lower segments triangular or ovate, obtuse, 

 half as long as the tube, the lateral one sonn'wliat longt r, the uppermost one l^roadly 

 truncate or slightly emarginate; flowers blue, 20 to 25 nun. long, with a pedicel 1 to 

 2 mm. long; standard broadly ovate, 20 nun. h>ng, J7 mm. wide below, the apex rotund- 

 ate, slightly emarginat(^ the claw 5 mm. long: wings obovate-oblong, the apex sub- 

 truncate, 18 to 25 mm. long; pod S to 13 cm. long. 4 to 5 mm. wide, thinly clothed 

 with minute hairs, margin incras.'^at(- seeds ovat(^-renifonn, 3.5 to 4 mm. long, 2.5 mm. 



wide, convex, brown, often spotted with white. 



Between Aibonito and Algarrobo on roadsides; near Juana Diaz in thickets toward 

 Escalabrado; near Guanica, in shady plains at jVbmtall)a; near Afiasco on declivities 

 at Hatillo.— Cuba (Wright), Jamaica (March), Haiti (Buch), Martinique (Duss), St. 

 Vincent (Smith). 



determined 



incomplete type spe<'imen of that species. 



5. Phaseolus adenantlius G. F. W. Mey. 



(Urban, 308.) 



Stem firm-herbaceous, wide-climbing; stipules 4.4 mm. deep, broad, ovate, erect, 

 persistent; petiole 3 to C-, cm. long; leaflets 3, the central one ovate, acuminate, 5 to 

 10 cm. long, 2 to 3.5 cm. wide, the lateral ones unequal-sided, the veins beneath 

 slightly rufo-pubescent; flowers G to 12 in moderately dense axillary racemes on pe- 

 duncles exceeding the leaves, white with large red spots; calyx 0.6 mm. deep; corolla 



