Desmodium.] XLVII, § PAPILIONACEE (BAKER). 165 
long by about 3 as broad, the lower half sometimes subcuneate, the 
upper slightly repand, its petiolule an inch long, the lateral one smaller 
and unequal sided, texture membranous, upper surface slightly sca- 
brous, lower finely adpressed-silky on the veins. Racemes long’, long- 
stalked and very lax, principally terminal, often compound below. 
Lower pedicels often an inch long, the rachis more or less pubescent. 
Bracts small, linear, deciduous. Calyx 2-3 lines deep, finely hairy, 
the teeth linear or lanceolate, reaching about halfway down. ‘Corolla 
reddish, 3-} in. deep. Pod distinctly stalked, with ‘2—4 articulations, 
which are 3—4 lines long by half as broad, the upper edge straight, 
the lower suture reaching down nearly to the upper one, the faces 
naked.—D. trichocaulon, DC. Prod. l.c. \ Hedysarum repandum, Poi. 
Ene. vi. 408 an Vahl? D. strangulatum, Wight et Arn. Prod. 228; 
Harv. Fl. Cap. ii. 229. D. caffrum, Eck. et Zey. Hb. 1662. D. Schimperi, 
Hochst. in Schimp. Hb. Abyss. No. 857; A. Rich. Fl. Abyss. i. 205. 
D. abyssinicum, DC. Prod. ii. 338 ? 
Upper Guinea. Cameroon mountains and Fernando Po, Mann! 
Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper! Roth! ‘ 
Lower Guinea. Highlands of Huilla and Golungo Alto, Dr. Welwitsch! 
Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land, Dr. Kirk! ; 
Also a plant of Natal, the Mascarene isles, East Indies, and Malaya. 
l4. D. Dregeanum, Benth. ; Harv. Fl. Cap. ii. 228. An erect under- 
shrub 2-3 ft. high, with branches thinly grey-silky upwards. Stipules 
small, linear, scarious. Petioles } in. long, firm, slender; leatlets 3, 
obovate, central one half an inch long by about half as broad, apex 
rounded, subcoriaceous, both sides thinly adpressed grey-silky. I lowers 
in a short terminal panicle. Bracts ovate, acuminate, scarious. Pedi- 
cels equalling the calyx, which is 2 lines deep, densely silky, the teeth 
linear-setaceous, reaching down nearly to the base. Pod sessile, 3-4 
in. long, 1 in. broad, the lower suture waved a quarter of the way down, 
articulations 3 or 4, finally glabrous.—Nicolsonia caffra, E. Meyer, Comm. 
Pl. Afr. Austr. 124. 
Nile Land. Nubia, Kotschy, Pl. Zthiop. Exsicc. 556. : oy 
A Cape species, and very ae to, perhaps identical with, the East Indian D. Grif- 
Jithianum, 
15. D. polycarpum, DC. Prod. ii. 334. An undershrub procum- 
bent at the base and often rooting at the Pe with ascending robust 
almost woody branches, thinly silky upwards. Stipules ovate cuspidate, 
Scarious, deciduous. Petiole 1 in. or rather more long, erecto-patent, 
thinly silky ; leaflets 3, the terminal one obovate, 14-2 in. long, by 
more than half as broad, the apex rounded, retuse or mucronate, the 
lateral ones smaller and rather narrower in proportion, texture sub- 
coriaceous, upper surface green and glabrous, the lower ae a 
Veins slightly raised. Flowers crowded in dense nearly sessile axillary 
and terminal racemes. Bracts ovate or lanceolate acuminate, slightly 
ciliated, deciduous. Pedicels glabrous, a line long, equalling the 
glabrous campanulate calyx, the teeth reaching halfway down, not 
