354 BENTMAM ON MIMOSE*. 



D. caffra (Meissn. in PI. Krauss. exsicc. n. 166.), is not in 

 my set of Krauss's plants, nor is it, as far as I am aware of, as 

 yet published. I am also unacquainted with Desmanthus 

 callistachySy DC. 



XIV. Neptunia, Lour. — Desmanthi Sect., DC. 



Flores superiores, v. rarius omnes hermaphroditi, sessiles. 

 Calyx campanulatus. Petala 5, ad medium cohserentia v. 

 rarius libera. Stamina 10, rarius 5, libera, exserta. An- 

 iherse ovatse, glandula stipitata superatse. Flores inferiores 

 nunc neutri filamentis filiformibus anantheris, nunc masculi. 

 Legumen oblongum, a stipite deflexum, planum, continuum, 

 valvulis 2 membranaceis dehiscens, intus inter semina incom- 

 plete septatum, epulposum. Semina transversa, funiculo fili- 

 formi appensa. Herbae suffruticesve inermes, prostratae v. 

 natantes. Folia bipinnata, foliolis parvis. Glandula inter 

 V. infra pinnas jugi infimi v. ssepius nulla. Stipulae mem- 

 branaceae, oblique cordatae, acuminatae. Pedunculi axillares, 

 solitarii, bracteis 1 — 2 stipulseformibusdeciduis onusti. Capi- 

 tulum ad apicem pedunculi ovato-globosum. 



This genus differs in habit from all the preceding ones, 

 though the characters derived from its flowers and fruit come 

 very near to those of Piptadenia. The habit is nearly that 

 of some Desmanthi and Mimosoe (of the section Ameria); but 

 the glanduliferous anthers and the pod are different from both. 

 The anantherous petaloid filaments in the lower flowers, the 

 character by which DichrostachySy Neptunia and Desmanthus 

 have been associated together, and distinguished from all 

 others, is constant only in the first two of the following spe- 

 cies. In the remaining species, flowers of this description are 

 frequently to be found in some heads and not in others of the 

 same specimen. 



1. N. oleracea (Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 654), natans, radi- 

 cans, glabra, ram is teretibus, pinnis 2 — 3-jugis, petiolo eglan- 

 duloso, foliolis 8 — 20-jugis, capitulis ovoideis, floribus neu- 

 tris numerosis, staminibus 10, legumine longe stipitato 6 



