214 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Stipules not peltate; stipules and bracteoles ovate or oblong; 

 wings a little longer than the standard; upper tooth of the calyx 

 short, broad, truncate, emarginate. (Section Euphaseolus.) 

 Calyx teeth all shorter than the tube. 



Legume flat, broad, falcate, 2 or 3-seeded. 

 Legume linear, many-seeded, straight or slightly arcuate. 

 Bracteoles broad, equal to the calyx; peduncle shorter 



than the petiole. 

 Bracteoles narrow, shorter than the calyx, peduncle 

 usually longer than the petiole. 



Keel spirally twisted (3 or 4 times). 

 Keel slightly twisted. 

 The lowest calyx teeth narrow, subequal to or longer than the 

 tube. 

 Stipules often more or less peltate below the insertion; upper tooth 

 of the calyx short, broad, truncate or emarginate; wings subequal 

 to the standard. (Section Strophostyles.) 

 Stipules not peltate; calyx subtubular, with 5 acute teeth; wings 

 long-clawed, longer than the standard; legume narrow, reflexed. 

 (Section Macroptilium.) 



1. Phaseolus lunatus L. 

 (Urban, 308.) 



Stems biennial, usually twining; leaflets 3. the central one ovate-deltoid, 7 to 10 cm. 

 long, 5 to 7 cm. broad, the lateral ones very unequal-sided; flowers in copious long or 

 short stalked axillary racemes 2.5 to 10 cm. long; calyx 2.2 to 3 mm. deep; corolla 

 under 1.5 cm. deep; standard dull green, wings and keel pale blue or in the cultivated 

 plant white; pod 5 to 7.5 cm. long, 1.25 to 1.17 cm. wide, glabrous, the upper suture 

 slightly and the lower much recurved, dark violet, margins green; seeds purple or 

 white. 



Spontaneous and cultivated, near Coamo, in thickets at Farajones and in woods at 

 Pedro Garcia; near Cabo Ilojo, on hedges at Buena Vista; near Rincon, in thickets at 

 Puntas; near Aguadilla in gardens at Espinel. Cuba, Jamaica (Grisebach), Haiti, St. 

 Thomas (Eggers), St. Croix (do.), St. John (do.), Antigua (Crisebach), Guadeloupe, 

 Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincent, Barbados, Trinidad i Kuntze), Margarita. Trop- 

 ical America. Widely dispersed through the tropics of both hemispheres. 



P. lunatus is easily distinguished from /'. vulgaris by its racemose inflorescence and 

 its smaller flowers, pods, and bracts. 



This plant is cultivated in Africa for the same purpose as P. vulgaris with us. 



Local name, habas. Lima bean. 



2. Phaseolus vulgaris L. 



(Urban, 308.) 



Stem annual, wide-climbing; leaflets 3, the central one broad-ovate, 10 to 12.5 cm. 

 long, acute; peduncles in pairs, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, 2 or 3-flowered; pedicels 1.5 to 8.5 

 mm. long; calyx 0.6 mm. deep; corolla white or lilac, 2.5 cm. long; pod 10 to lL',5 cm. 

 long, 1.2 cm. wide. 



Cultivated near Adjuntas at Junco and near Mayaguez. /'. i ulgaris is a commonly 

 cultivated species. no1 clearly known anywhere in a native state. 



The home of the common bean, P. vulgaris, as Wittmack has shown, is South Amer- 

 ica, where nearly related species are also cultivated. Of this species there are innu- 

 merable varieties. The green pods are used as a vegetable in the form of "string" or 



