( 3986 ) 



BoSSliilA VIRGATA. TWIGGY BoSSIjEA. 



Class and Order. 



DlADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 



( Nat. Ord. — Leguminos^e. ) 



Generic Character. 



Calyx bilabiatus, labio superiore majore semibifido ob- 

 tuse Stamina omnia connexa. Legumen plano-compres- 

 sum pedicellatum polyspermum margine utroque incrassa- 

 tum. Semina strophiolata. — Frutices Australasici. Rami 

 sape compressi. Folia nulla aut simplicia alterna. Flores 

 fiavi, carina scepe purpurea autfusca. D C. 



Specific Name and Character. 



Bossi^a virgata ; glaberrima, ramis elongatis virgatis anci- 

 piti-alatis alis submembranaceis adultis etiam foliosis, 

 foliis petiolatis ellipticis liuearibusque, calycis dentibus 

 rectis, leguminibus glabris. 



A Swan River species, detected and introduced to this 

 country by Mr. James Drummond, by seeds, received by 

 Mr. Murray in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, where the 

 plant flowered in June, 1842. Specimens have also been 

 sent over for the Herbarium, marked in Mr. Drummond's 

 first collections, No. 56. The species, is, perhaps, most 

 nearly allied to B. Scolopendrium, and to B. ensata; but 

 may be known from both by its bearing leaves, and pretty 

 copiously, at the same time with the flowers. These flowers 

 are highly ornamental, and the plant has a very lively 

 appearance when in blossom. I may mention too, that the 

 wings of the stem are of a much thinner texture than in B. 

 Scolopendrium. 



Descr. This seems to be rather a tall growing plant, 

 with elongated, upright, twiggy branches, flattened and 



ancipitate, 



