PIPER—-CANAVALIA AND WENDEROTHIA 577 
the vexillar one more or less free; anthers all alike; style glabrous; stigma 
capitate; pods stipitate, oblong or linear, beaked, straight or curved, com- 
pressed, the inner layer not loose, each valve strengthened by three or four 
longitudinal ribs, one very close to each suture, the other one or two toward 
the middle; seeds several to many, ellipsoid and compressed or lentiform, the 
hilum linear. 
Species 12, tropical or subtropical in the Western Hemisphere. The trun- 
cate upper calyx lip, the absence of auricles on the standard, the rostrate keel, 
and the different pod characters seem ample justification for keeping Wen- 
derothia distinct from Canavalia. 
The 12 species of Wenderothia occur scattered through Mexico and south- 
ward to southern Brazil and Bolivia, only one species being found in the West 
Indies, W. altipendula of Jamaica. Apparently all are strictly tropical plants 
and nearly all are woody-stemmed perennials. None have any particular 
economic value, though several might well be employed as ornamental. 
The mechanism of the flowers of W. mattogrossensis and W. grandiflora has 
been described and figured by Malme (Ark. for Bot. 4"; 7-11. 1905), and of 
W. mattogrossensis by Lindman (Bih. Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl. 27: Afd. III. 
No. 14: 55. 1902). Lindman says the flowers of the latter species are visited 
by large bumblebees. The insect alights on the standard, inserts its beak into 
the cleft on the upper side of the keel, and presses downward to reach the 
nectar. AS a result, the tip of the keel is depressed and the stamens and 
stigma are extruded. 
KEY TO THE SECTIONS AND SPECIES. 
Pod valves each with four longitudinal ridges, one near each suture, the other 
two equidistant__--------------------------------------- 1. Tetrapleura. 
Pod valves each with three longitudinal ridges, one near each suture, the third 
near the middle__--------------------------------------- 2. Cochlitropis. 
1. Tetrapleura. Leaflets membranous; keel produced, rostrate, spirally 
twisted at apex; pod valves each with four longitudinal ribs, one close to 
each suture, the other two equidistant from each other and from the sutures. 
Stems woody; leaflets glabrous; upper lip of calyx emarginate, not apiculate, 
very short; corolla yellowish ; hilum one-twelfth the circumference of the 
seed ______-____----------------------------------- ___1. W. acuminata. 
Stems herbaceous; leaflets puberulent; upper lip of calyx not emarginate, 
apiculate, as long as the tube; corolla purple; hilum about one-third the 
circumference of the seed__--------------------------- 2. W. bicarinata. 
2, Cochlitropis. Mostly shrubby vines with membranous or chartaceous 
leaflets; calyx with upper lip of calyx entire, usually apiculate, and lower lip 
3-lobed; keel produced, rostrate to spiral at tip; pod valves each with three 
longitudinal ridges, one near each suture, the third nearer to the ventral than 
to the dorsal suture; seeds compressed. 
Ribs of pod winglike. Leaflets obtuse and emarginate__----- 3. W. obidensis. 
Ribs of pod not winglike. 
Apex of leaflets obtuse to acutish. 
Calyx silvery-sericeous; bractlets orbicular____----------- 3. W. palmeri. 
Calyx not silvery-sericeous ; bractlets ovate___--- 5. W. mattogrossensis. 
Apex of leaflets acuminate but with the very tip blunt and apiculate. 
Leaflets chartaceous, glabrous. 
Corolla 2 cm. long; keel not spiral at tip------------ 6. W. altipendula. 
Corolla 4 cm. long; keel spiral at tip---------------- 7. W. grandiflora. 
Leaflets membranaceous, rarely glabrous. 
