LEGUMINOS.E. 61 



trees of great beauty or use, or both ; some yield important dye- 

 stuffs ; some are poisonous, while most have a wholesome char- 

 acter. Some are tonic, or stimulant, or astringent, or emetic, 

 vesicatory, or cathartic, &c. Several yield important gums, bal- 

 sams, extracts. About 280 genera belong to the order, and con- 

 tain within the torrid zone 1 602 species, and north of the torrid 

 zone, 1312 species, and south of the tropic, 524 species. Many 

 of the most interesting, are unknown in temperate climates ; 236 

 species are ascribed by Torrey to North America. All our 

 plants of this order, have papilionaceous flowers ; calyx with dis- 

 tinct divisions ; and stamens around the pistil. Many are beautiful. 



Amphicarpa. Ell. 15. 10. 



Jl. monoica. Nutt. Pea Vine. Has a hairy, twining, slender 

 stem, and purple flowers ; leaves ternate, with ovate leafets ; the 

 racemes of peialous flowers are sterile, and the radical apetalous 

 flowers fertile ; woods, July. 



Apios. Ph. 15. 10. 



./3. tuberosa. Moench. Ground-nut. A twining plant, often 

 many feet long, with leaves pinnate, having 5 — 7 leafets ; keel 

 of the corolla falcate ; flowers in racemes, dense, axillary, dark- 

 purple ; root tuberous, pleasant to the taste, raw or roasted ; 

 blossoms in July ; woods. When the seeds have fallen from 

 their capsules, the opened and colored fruit-vessels have a 

 beautiful appearance, and are sometimes used with ground pine 

 in decorations. " 



Baptisia. Vent. 10. 1. 



B. tindoria. Br. Wild Indigo. Stem 2-3 feet high, 

 very branching, very smooth, with ternate leaves ; calyx 2-lipped, 

 stamens deciduous, flowers 5-petalled, nearly equal, in racemes ; 

 in drying, the plant turns black, or rather blue ; woods, in a light 

 soil ; July. Astringent, antiseptic, emetic, cathartic. 



Cassia. L. 10. 1. 



Sepals scarcely united ; stamens 10, free, unequal in length, 

 and the 3 upper ones abortive ; 5 unequal petals. 



