184 FABACEAE. 



keel nearly straight, obtuse. Stamens monadelphous or diadelphous (9 and 1); 

 anthers all alike. Ovules 2-oo. Loment flat, 2-several-jointed, the joints mainly 

 coriaceous and pubescent or muricate, indehiseent or rarely partially dehiscent, 

 readily separable. [Named for Dr. Brandus Meibom; died at Helmstadt, 1740.] 

 About 160 species, natives of warm and temperate regions. Type species: 

 Hedysarum canadense L. 



Upper suture of the loment straight or nearly so. 1. M. supina. 

 Both sutures of the loment undulate. 



Loment several-jointed, moniliform. 2. M. tortvosa. 



Loment 2-jointed ; upper joint much larger than the lower. 3. M. mollis. 



1. Meibomia supina (Sw.) Britton, Ann. X. Y. Acad. Sci. 7: 83. 1892. 



Hedysarum supinum Sw. Prodr. 106. 1788. 

 Hedysarum incanum Sw. Prodr. 107. 1788. 

 Desmodium incanum DC. Prodr. 2: 332. 1825. 



Stems erect or ascending, somewhat woody, 3-9 dm. high, puberulent or 

 short-pubescent. Stipules lanceolate, acuminate, connate below, or at length 

 distinct, mostly shorter than the petioles; leaflets 3 or often only 1, various in 

 form, mostly elliptic, but also lanceolate, obovate, nearly linear, or orbicular, 

 sometimes several forms on the same plant, glabrous or nearly so and dark 

 green above, finely pubescent and pale beneath, 2-7.5 cm. long; stipels subu- 

 late; racemes 2-8 cm. long; bracts linear-lanceolate, pubescent, shorter than the 

 pedicels, deciduous; pedicels 6-12 mm. long; calyx small, about 3 mm. long, its 

 teeth ovate-lanceolate, acute; corolla purple or purplish, 2-3 times as long as 

 the calyx; loment 3-8-jointed, 3 cm. long or less, its upper suture continuous, 

 the lower margin deeply undulate, the oblong joints densely pubescent. 



Dry or moist places in scrub, coppices, pine-lands, waste or cultivated lands, 

 throughout the archipelago from Abaco and Great Bahama to Andros, Watling's, 

 Crooked Island and East Caicos : Florida : West Indies ; continental tropical Amer- 

 ica ; tropical Africa. Recorded by Schoepf as Hedysarum canescens. Common 

 Tick-trefoil. 



2. Meibomia tortuosa (Sw.) Kuntze, Kev. Gen. PI. 198. 1891. 



Hedysarum tortuosum Sw. Prodr. 107. 1788. 

 Desmodium tortuosum DC. Prodr. 2: 332. 1825. 



Erect, branched, 1.5 m. high or less, the stem and branches finely and 

 rather densely pubescent, striate. Stipules lanceolate, acuminate, half-cordate 

 at base, 6-15 mm. long; leaflets 3, ovate to oblong or elliptic, 2-10 cm. long, 

 sparingly pubescent with appressed hairs, or glabrous above, mostly obtuse at 

 the apex and narrowed at the base, as long as the petioles or longer; stipels 

 subulate; racemes simple, or sparingly branched, 1.5-3 dm. loug; pedicels 

 filiform, 1-2 cm. long; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 2-3 times as long as the 

 calyx, deciduous; calyx about 2 mm. long, its teeth subulate; corolla blue to 

 purple, about 5 mm. long; loment nearly sessile, at first much twisted, at length 

 flat, 3-6-jointed, both margins deeply undulate, the oval-orbicular joints 4-5 

 mm. long. 



Waste places and roadsides, New Providence and Eleuthera : Florida ; Texas ; 

 Jamaica ; Cuba to Tortola and Grenada ; continental tropical America. Twisted 



TlCK-TEEFOIL. 



3. Meibomia mollis (Vahl) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 198. 1891. 



Hedysarum molle Vahl, Symb. 2: 83. 1791. 

 Desmodium molle DC. Prodr. 2: 332. 1825. 



Stem erect, rather stout, branched, 2 m. high or less, softly pubescent. 

 Stipules triangular-subulate, 2-6 mm. long; leaflets 3, rarely only 1, ovate, 2-10 



