228 LEGUMINOS (Harv.) [Desmodium 
Herbs or suffrutices, common in warm countries of both hemispheres. Leaves pin- 
nately trifoliolate or unifoliolate ; the terminal leaflet bistipellate, the lateral unisti- 
pellate. Racemes terminal, slender or densely flowered. Flowers small, purple or 
white. Name, decuos, a bond ; the stamens are connected. 
ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SPECIES. 
Lys. trifoliolate ; racemes ovoid, very dense, short ve. (1) Dregeanum. 
Lys. foliolate ; racemes cylindrical, elongating ; pedicels short —_( 2) grande, 
Lvs, trifoliolate ; racemes very lax, paniculate ; pedicels long and filiform : 
Leaflets ovate, acuminate, the lateral unequal-sided... (3) strangulatum. 
Lfts. obovate, obtuse ; legume moniliform ... -. (4) setigerum. 
Leaves unifoliolate; leaflet cordate ; racemes slender, long (5) natalitium. 
1. D. Dregeanum (Benth.!); suffruticose, erect, thinly silky-villous, 
with appressed hairs; leaves on short petioles, pinnately trifoliolate ; 
leaflets obovate-oblong, obtuse, often complicate, glabrous above, thinly 
pilose and netted beneath, concolourous ; stipules lanceolate, acumi- 
nate, stipelle setaceous ; racemes terminal and axillary, very dense and 
short ; pedicels crowded, 2-3 together, short; calyx densely piloso-bar- 
bate with yellow hairs; legumes deflexed, about 4-jointed, the joints 
subquadrate, pubescent, the intermediate constrictions shallow. Krauss.! 
143. Nicolsonia caffra, E. Mey.! 1. c. : 
Has. Banks of streams between the Great Cataract and Omsameaba, Drege ! 
Natal, Krauss/ Sutherland! Sanderson, &c. (Herb. Hk., Sd., D.) 
2-3 feet high, more ligneous than other 8. African species. Petioles 4-3 inch long; 
leaflets 1-14 inch long, 5-6 lines wide, the terminal largest. Racemes ovoid, shorter 
than the leaf, very dense, but not capitate ; the pedicels 2-3 lines long. The yellow 
calycine hairs conspicuous. Legumes about an inch long, but little constricted be- 
tween the joints, 
2. D. grande (E. Mey. ! 1. c.) ; suffruticose, erect, hispido-pubescent ; 
leaves on longish petioles, pinnately trifoliolate ; leaflets elliptic-oblong, 
subacute, rigid, paler beneath, penni-nerved, glabrous above, appressedly — 
hispid along the nerves beneath ; petiolules hispid; stipules scarious, 
ovato-lanceolate, stipella subulate ; racemes terminal and axillary, cylin- 
drical, elongating, many-flowered, pedicels scarcely longer than the calyx, 
2-3 together ; calyx setose, bilabiate; legume 4-6 or more jointed, 
joints oblong or subquadrate, coriaceous, pubescent, the intermediate 
constrictions variable. 
Has. Wet in i in- 
,. (Gleb: Bes “tne plains between Omblas and Port Natal, Drege! Guein 
Stem 3-4 feet high? branching. Leaflets 24-3 inches long, 1-1} wide, with pro- 
munent nerves beneath. Racemes from the upper axils, as well as ending the branches, 
3-5 inches long, closely flowered, the bracts, before flowering, imbricating ; after- 
wards deciduous, lanceolate, acuminate. Pedicels 2 lines long. Legume sometimes 
scarcely constricted between the joints, sometimes deeply so, 
3. D. strangulatum (W. & Arn. Fl, Ind. I, p. 228); suffruticose, erect, 
