Vail : Studies in the Leguminosae 109 



-mm. long 



apparently branching at the base, shghtly striate, pubescent, spar- 

 ingly resinous-dotted : stipules 4 mm. long, linear-lanceolate, cil- 

 iate, reflexed, at length caducous : petioles 2-6 cm. long, slender, 

 channelled, pubescent : leaves 3-foliolate ; terminal petiolule 8-12 



^ ; terminal leaflets 4-$ or 6 cm. long;, ovate, long-acumi- 

 nate, 3-4 cm. wide, rather thin, soft pubescent on both surfaces, 

 resinous-dotted beneath ; lateral leaflets smaller, inequilaterally 

 ovate, commonly though not always long-acuminate : racemes 1-2 

 cm. long or less, 2-3 (?)-flowcred, the short peduncles very slen- 

 der : pedicels filiform, 3-4 mm. long, puberulent : bracts very 

 small, persisting : calyx 3 mm. long, resinous-dotted ; teeth shorter 

 than the tube : corolla yellow, much exceeding the calyx ; vexillum 

 obovate, 8 mm. long, minutely puberulent and dotted with ele- 

 vated yellow resinous dots or glands on the outside : ovary resinous- 

 dotted, pubescent or bearded along the apex: legume 2.5-3 cm. 

 long, 5-7 mm. w^ide, falcate, acute at the apex, tapering to the 

 petiole, dark brown and coriaceous, pubescent, resinous-dotted : 

 mature seeds 5-6 mm. long, oblong-ovoid, bright red. 



South Florida ; Cuba. 



My attention was finst called to this species two years ago by a 

 fragment in the Chapman Collection in the Herbarium of Colum- 

 bia University, which purported to be Rliynchosia Caribaca DC. 

 It was also labelled " South Florida, Blodgett." Somewhat later 

 in looking over a large bundle of miscellaneous leguminous and 

 mostly unnamed material in the Torrey Collection, I found a good 

 original specimen of Mr. Blodgett's from Key West, with the fol- 

 lowing note : " Climbing high on trees. Flowers yellow, all sea- 

 sons. Damp places." I concluded that it was an unnamed spe- 

 cies, but owing to the uncertainty attached to the identity of 

 RJiyncliosla Caribaca {(jlyci)ic Caribaca Jacquin, Icon. Rar. f. 146. 

 17S6), I was un^villing to undertake the responsibility of giving it 

 a new name. Since then I have had the opportunity of examin- 

 ing the Jacquin plate, with which our Florida plant does not seem 

 to have anything in common, except the shape of the legume. 



Besides these two specimens, I have seen the following : Rugcl, 

 no. 137, from Key West, February, 1846, ex-Herb. Shutdeworth 

 in the Herbarium of the British :\Iuseum, where there are also two 

 fragments labelled " Hispaniola, Dr. Swartz." In the Kew Her- 

 barium there is a specimen of it from Wright's collecting in Cuba, 

 .Tio. 2323, inscribed as Rliv'ichosia Caribaca ex-Griesb. Catal. PI. 



