34G BENTHAM ON MIMOSE^. 



and M. pUrocarpa^ from two specimens of the same species, 

 the one in flower, the other in fruit. It is true, he says, that 

 the wing of the pod in his M. pterocarpa, is " situe seule- 

 ment le long de son bord supei'ieur," but Vahl, who appears 

 to have seen Lamarck's plant, makes use of the expression, 

 " membrana longitudinaliter cinctum." The distinctive char- 

 acters of the two supposed species, given by De Candolle, 

 are too variable in one and the same specimen to be made 

 available. 



XII. Prosopis. Linn, 



Flos fere Entadce, sessilis v. brevissimepedicellatus. An- 

 therjE (exceptis P. denudante et humili), ut in praecedentibus 

 glandulasuperatae. Legumenlineare,compressum v. subteres, 

 rectum falcatiim v. varie contortum, indehiscens, transverse 

 muitiloculare et inter semina ssepe solubile, endocarpio matu- 

 rilate spongioso-subcarnoso farinaceo v. pulposo. Semina 

 funiculo filiformi appensa nuda v. pulpa tenuia circumdata. 

 — Arbores v. frutices, aculeati inermes v. spinis axillaribus 

 (pedunculis ramulisve abortivis ?) solitariis binisve stipulari- 

 busve binis armati. Folia bipinnata saepius rigida. Pinnse 

 1 — 2-jug£e rarius 3 — 5-jugae. Foliola plura v. multijuga. 

 Glandulse inter pinnas parvae v. obscurae, inter foliola ssepius 

 minimee, vix conspicuae, rarius autem in petiolo communi v. 

 partiali onniino deficientes. Spicas cylindricse, v. globosse, 

 axillares. 



The gland of the anthers was formerly supposed to exist 

 in the P. spidgera alone, and the American species were 

 separated by De Candolle into a distinct section chiefly on 

 this account. When examining Hartwec's Mexican plants 

 some years since, I observed that all the American species 

 had their petals woolly within side of their apex, and the pod 

 appeared to me mucli flatter than in the E. Indian species, 

 and I proposed raising De Candolle's section Algarohia to 

 the rank of a genus. Since then, however, I have ascertained 

 that the stipitate gland exists in all the American species ex- 

 cepting two, and that the pod, though perfectly flat in many 

 species before it is quite ripe, even after the seeds have at- 



