( 2081 ) 



PiJLTEN/EA RETUSA. OBTUSE- LEAVED 

 PlJLTEN^A. 



CZass #wd Order. 

 Decandria Monogynia. 



Generic Character. 



Cal. 5-fidus, kbiis proportionatis, bibracteatus (bracteis 

 srepius ipso tubo insidentibus). Cor. papilionacea. Germen 

 sessile, dispermum. Stylus subulatus, adscendens. Stigma 

 simplex. Strophiola seminis lobis postieis incisis. Brown. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 



Pultenjea retusa ; capitulis terminalibus, foliis linearibus 

 retusis muticis planis glabris, bracteis calyce paulo lon- 

 gioribus. Hort. Kew. ed. alt. 3. p. 18. 



Pulten^ea retusa ; foliis linearibus retusis muticis glabris, 

 stipulis geminis minutis, bracteis ovatis vix longitudine 

 pedunculorum. Smith in Ann. of Bot. 1. p. 502 % Lin 

 Trans. 9. p. 247. 



Papilionaceous flowers have mostly ten stamens, but sometimes 

 all the filaments are united together into one membranaceous 

 sheath ; more generally nine of the filaments are united, and 

 one remains distinct. These last gave rise to Linn/Eus's class 

 oftheDiadelphia, from which, however, he did not separate 

 the former. But a third set having the filaments distinct to 

 their base, were necessarily arranged in his system under 

 Decandria. Of this last division, few plants were known to 

 Linn^us, and the genus Sophora, for a considerable time, 

 almost served as a common receptacle for all such. But the 

 prodigious number of decandrous papilionaceous plants, dis- 

 covered in New Holland, soon induced the necessity of 



establishing 



