190 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



3 to 6 cm. long, 3 to 5 cm. wide, above shortly pilose, beneath subglabrous ; inflores- 

 cence 10 to 15 cm. long; calyx about 2 mm. long; flowers violet; standard suborbicular 

 or orbicular-ovate, 4 mm. long; stamens 9; pod (immature) with 2 or 3 articulations. 

 Eastern part of the island (Schwanecke, Wydler). Grenada, Tobago. 



8. Desmodium molle (Vahl) DC. 

 (Urban, 292.) 



Erect; stem shrubby; branches herbaceous, striate, 1.3 to 2 meters high; leaflets 3, 

 ovate, 4 to 5 cm. long, 1 .25 to 2.75 cm. wide, membranaceous, pubescent on both sides; 

 stipules subulate-setaceous; flowers very small, 3.3 mm. long, greenish outside, dark 

 blue within; calyx segments linear, long; pod membranaceous, flat; articulations at 

 first elliptical, reniform with a lateral notch when mature, 6.5 to 8.5 mm. long, 4.4 to 

 5 mm." wide. 



Near Coamo in meadows between Serillos and Salinas: near Juana Diaz, along roads 

 about Escalabrado; near Guanica, on declivities at Punta de la Meseta and in thickets 

 at Montalba. Jamaica (Grisebach), Haiti, St. Thomas, St. Croix (Vahl), Martinique, 

 Curacao, Central America, South America. 



The legume of D. molle is quite unlike that of any other Porto Rican Desmodium. 

 It has a pod with 2 elliptical articulations, of which the upper is enlarged and fertile, 

 and when mature has a lateral notch. This is the only pod with a reniform articulation 

 within this genus in Porto Rico. 



9. Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC. 

 (Urban, 293.) 



Erect, 0.5 to 1.5 meters high; stem striate, cylindrical, the down uncinate: leaflets 3, 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, the terminal one 2.5 to 10 cm. long, 1 to 4.5 cm. wide, hispidu- 

 lous or glabrescent; pedicels filiform, longer than the flower; flowers small, purple or 

 pale blue; calyx 2 to 3 mm. deep; corolla 5 to 6 mm. long; pods with 2 to 6 articula- 

 tions, constricted nearly to the center. 



Near Bay anion, in shady localities and along roads toward Toa Baja: near Fajardo 

 in cultivated places; near Maunabo on shady slopes between Emajagua and Punta del 

 Naranjo; between Aibonito and Algarrobo in steep places at the roadside; near Barran- 

 quitas, on declivities at Isabon; between Aibonito ami Coamo along roads; near Coamo, 

 at Salinas; near Juana Diaz along roads; near Penuelason the top of Mount Vi and on 

 plains around Mount Llano; near Guanica on gravelly banks around Barinas; near 

 Mayaguez; near Rincon, in the mountains at Calvache and on the plains toward 

 Aguada. Cuba, Jamaica, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, 

 St. Vincent, Bequia (Kew Bull. no. 81, p. 246), Mustique (d6.), Grenada, Central 

 America, North America, South America. 



Local name, zarzabacoa, junquillo. 



10. Desmodium spirale (Sw.) DC. 



(Urban, 293.) 



Stems annual, 30 to 45 cm. high, slender, diffuse, slightly pubescent; petioles 1.2 to 

 2.5 cm. long; leaflets 3, the terminal one roundish or ovate. 2.5 to 5 cm. long; 1.2 to 2.5 

 cm. broad, the lateral ones smaller, subpapyraceous, both side< green, glabrous; pedi- 

 cels 6.5 to 8.5 mm. long, spreading, very slender, glabrous; flowers in Porto Rican 

 specimens always white; calyx 2.2 mm. long, deeply cleft : corolla slightly exceeding 

 the calyx, greenish variegated with purple; pod 9 to L2 mm. Long, 2.2mm. wide; articu- 

 lations 4 to 6, separated by very narrow spaces, often spirally twisted. 



