PERKINS THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 187 



1. Desrnodium barbatum (L.) Benth. 

 (Urban, 290.) 



Stiff rutescent, erect, or ascending, 30 to 60 cm. high; leaflets 3, elliptical -oblong, 

 obovate, or elliptical-lanceolate, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 4 to 7 mm. wide, above glabrous 

 or subpilose, beneath appressed-villose ; calyx 4.4 mm. deep, at length nodding, very- 

 long brown-pilose, the teeth lanceolate-setaceous, the tube very short; corolla light 

 blue or purple, about as long as the calyx; legume 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 2 mm. wide, 

 indehiscent, the upper suture straight, the lower somewhat indented, reflexed, 2 to 

 4-jointed. 



Near Bayamon, in sandy places; near Lares, in ravines at Espino; near Cabo Rojo, 

 on hills toward Joyuda; near Mayaguez, on the slopes of Mount Mesa; near Aguada, 

 in rocky districts at Rosario; near Manati, on plains at Garrochales. Cuba (Grise- 

 bach), Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, St. Lucia, Tobago, Trinidad. In tropical America, 

 a common plant, in pastures, and on the roadside. Also introduced into the Old 

 World. 



The short, many-flowered racemes and the deep, densely plumose calyx make this 

 common plant of the Tropics easily recoginzed. 



Local name, zarzabacoa pelvda. 



2. Desmodium triflorum. (L.) DC. a 

 (Urban, 289.) 



Stem widely creeping, copiously and diffusely branched, forming a dense matted 

 cluster, the branches slender, glal >r< us or thinly clothed with fine spreading silky hairs; 

 stipules lanceolate, acuminate, 4.4 mm. deep; leaflets 3, broadly obovate, terminal one 

 8.5 to 11 mm. long and nearly as broad, lateral ones smaller, both sides glabrous or 

 subglabrous; flowers blue (Urban); calyx 4 mm., deep, silky, teeth reaching more 

 than halfway down; corolla reddish or white (Oliver), fragrant, about equaling the 

 calyx; pod 1.1 to 1.7 cm. long, 4 mm. wide, the lower suture waved one-third of the 

 way down; articulations 4 to 6, the faces subglabrous. 



Near Naguabo in fields around Hacienda Oriente; near Cayey along roads toward 

 Cidra; near Coamo, in the valley of El Tendal River on grassy slopes; near Cabo Rojo 

 on hills toward Joyuda; near Rincon in meadows at Barrio del Pueblo. Cuba, Jamaica, 

 Cayman, Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John (Eggers), St. Bartholomew (Stock- 

 holm Herbarium), St. Kitts, Antigua (Grisebach), Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Vin- 

 cent, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad. Mexico to Brazil, tropical Africa, East Indies. 



Desmodium triflorum is a common weed of the Tropics. The fresh leaves are used 

 medicinally. In India Roxburgh says that this is very common on pasture grounds 

 and helps to form the most beautiful turf; further, that cattle are very fond of it. 

 Midler recommends its cultivatibn in regions too hot for clover. Another author 

 says that in India it springs up on all soils, supplying there the place of Trifolium and 

 Medicago. 



Local name, zarzabacoa de tres flores. 



3. Desmodium adscendens iSw.i DC. 

 (Urban, 290.) 



An undershrub 1 to 1.3 meters high, with ascending woody branches; leaflets 3, 



obovate, 1.8 to 2.5 cm. long, sometimes nearly as broad as deep, the apex rounded, 

 subcoriaceous, upper surface glabrous, lower finely adpressed-silky; racemes often 15 



a For illustration see Cook and Collins, fig. 12, p. 189 (as Meibomia Irijlora). 



