Desmodium. | XLVII. § PAPILIONACEE (BAKER), 163 
8. D. delicatulum, 4. Rich. Fl. Abyss. i. 205. Stem slender, annual, 
not more than 6—9 in. high, erect, scarcely branched, clothed upwards 
with spreading silky hairs. Stipules lanceolate, scarious, 2—3 lines long.’ 
Petioles very slender, } in. long; lower leaves simple, upper trifolio- 
late, the leaflets obovate, terminal one 6-8 lines long by about half as 
broad, apex rounded, emarginate, texture firm, upper surface glabrous, 
lower slightly silky on the veins. Racemes sessile, terminal, 2—4- 
flowered. Pedicels very slender, half an inch long. Calyx a line deep, 
subglabrous, the teeth linear, reaching down nearly to the base. Pod 
6-8 lines long, more than one line broad, with 4-6 articulations, the 
lower suture reaching about a third down, the faces glabrous. 
Nile Land. Abyssinia, Quartin-Dillon and Petit! 
Perhaps a mere variety of D. hirtum. 
9. D. hirtum, Guill. et Perr. Fl. Seneg. 209. Stems annual, 2-3 ft. 
long, copiously and diffusely branched, clothed throughout with spread- 
ing silky yellowish-grey hairs. Stipules 3—4 lines long, linear, sca- 
rlose. Petioles 4-1 in. long, slender, silky; leaflets 3, the terminal 
2 . . . 
one obovate, 1—1}in. long, 3—? in. broad, lateral ones similar but 
smaller, upper surface elabrous, lower thinly adpressed grey-silky. 
Stipelle minute, setaceous. Flowers in very lax axillary and terminal 
racemes, the latter sometimes a foot long, the upper flowers solitary, the 
lower in pairs an inch or more apart, the rachis slender, densely silky. 
Bracts ovate-acuminate, scarious, deciduous. Pedicels slender, spread- 
ing, glabrous, 4-3 in. long. Calyx very silky, a line deep, cut down 
nearly to the base, the teeth linear. Corolla red, slightly exceeding 
the calyx. Pod 4—2 in. long, a line broad, with 4—6 articulations, the 
lower suture waved about a third of the way down, the faces thinly 
hairy.—Nicolsonia setigera, E. Meyer, Comm. Pl. Afr. Aust. 124. Des- 
modium setigerum, Benth.; Harv. et Sond. Fl. Cap, ii. 229. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius! Senegambia, Lepriewr and Perrottet ! 
Guinea, confluence of the branches of the Niger, Barter! Princes island, Dr. Welwitsch ! 
Lower Guinea. Highlands of Golungo Alto, Dr. Welwitsch! 
Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land and Zanzibar, Dr. Kirk! 
Also a plant of Natal. 
10.. D. incanum, DC. Prod. ii. 332. A diffuse undershrub 2—3 ft. 
high, the branches finely grey-pubescent upwards. Stipules 3—4 lines 
ong, lanceolate, scarious, at first subconnate. Petiole 1-1} in. long, 
densely clothed with spreading grey hairs; leaflets 5, central one 
oblong or obovate, 3-4 in. long, generally under half as broad, the 
edge not at all repand, its petiolule very short and stipellwe minute, 
Setaceous, the lateral leaflets smaller and more rounded at the base, sub- 
coriaceous, upper surface glabrous, lower glaucous thinly and finely 
pubescent with raised veins. Racemes stalked, moderately lax. Bracts 
anceolate, not exceeding the finely silky pedicels, 3-4 lines long. 
to a line deep, campanulate, subglabrous, the teeth deltoid or lan- 
Ceolate, reaching halfway down. Corolla 3-4 lines deep, reddish. 
Pod an inch or more long, 4 in. broad, with 5—8 articulations which 
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