Desmodium. | XLVII. § PAPILIONACEE (BAKER), 161 
Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper! Quartin-Dillon. 
Gathered by Vogel and Dr. Hooker in the Cape Verdes. Common in Tropical 
America ; found also in the East Indies and Polynesian islands. 
3. D. polygonoides, Welw. mss. A herbaceous perennial with 
densely ciespitose finely grey-downy slender stems not more than half- 
a-foot high. Stipules linear, } in. Petioles 3-4 lines, finely downy. 
Leaves simple, membranous, cordate, bluntish, 6-10 lines long, gla- 
brous above, faintly pubescent on the ribs below. Flowers in mode- 
rately dense stalked terminal racemes 1$—2 in. long. Pedicels 1}-2 
lines, finely downy. Bracteoles linear, 1 line. Calyx 1 line, finely 
downy, the lanceolate teeth exceeding the tube. Corolla pale violet, 
twice the calyx. Pod with 6—7 articulations, both sutures deeply 
indented, not seen fully mature. 
Lower Guinea. Highlands of Pungo Andongo, Dr, Welwitsch! 
4. D. dimorphum, Welw. mss. An erect undershrub 1-2} ft. high, 
much branched at the base, with firm woody slender angular branches, 
densely grey-silky upwards. Stipules } in. linear, scarious. Petioles 
slender, 6-8 lines long, much bent at the apex. Leaves simple, 
oblong, rounded at both ends, often cordate at the base, 1}—14 in. long 
by about half as broad, subcoriaceous, upper surface glabrous, lower 
thinly grey-silky all over. Racemes under an inch long, crowded, 
nearly sessile, axillary and terminal, simple. Pedicels 3-4 lines long, 
slender, nearly glabrous. Bracteoles lanceolate, 14-2 lines, caducous. 
Calyx 1 in. deep, very silky, the teeth linear, densely plumose, reach- 
ing down nearly to the base. Corolla reddish, about equalling the 
calyx. Pod 3—4 lines long, sessile, 2-3-seeded, glabrous, the lower 
Suture deeply indented. 
Lower Guinea. (Golungo Alto, 2400 ft., Dr. Welwitseh ! a 
Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land, Manganya country, alt. 3000 ft., Dr. Kirk! 
Gathered also in Madagascar by Dr. Lyall. 
Var. 8. argyreum, Welw. mss. : 
Stem ae an densely grey-canescent throughout. Leaves larger, 14-2 in. long, 
more densely silky on the underside. Calyx 2 lines Jong, both tube and teeth very 
densely clothed with brown silky hairs. 
Lower Guinea. Highlands of Huilla, Dr. Welwitsch! 
5. D. gangeticum, DC. Prod. ii.827. An erect undershrub 3—5 ftw 
high, the branches firm but scarcely woody, moderately slender, pubes- 
Cent upwards. Stipules linear, 4-3 in. long. Leaves simple, ovate- 
lanceolate, 3-6 in. long by under halfas broad, narrowed gradually toan 
acute point, edge not at all repand, subcoriaceous, upper surface slightly 
scabrous, lower paler and thinly adpressed erey-silky. Racemes mo- 
derately dense, subsessile, axillary and terminal, the latter compound. 
Bracts minute, setaceous. Pedicels a line long slender, erecto-patent. 
Calyx about the same length, silky, the teeth lanceolate, reaching half- 
way down. Corolla reddish, twice as long as the calyx. Pod sessile, 
6~9 lines long, more than a line broad, the articulations 5—6, the 
ower suture waved down nearly to the upper one, the faces slightly 
VOL, II. M 
