DIADELPHIA. DECAN0RIA. 107 



rated; as it can be equally referred to either one or the 

 other. 



The South of Europe, Tartary and the Levant furnish 

 the other 6 species of this g-enus. 



507. LESPEDEZA. Michaux. 



Calix 5-pacted; bibractaate at the base, seg- 

 ments subequal. Carina transversely obtuse. 

 Lonieiit lenticular, unarmed, 1-seeded. 



stem sublig-neous, annual, seldom suffruticose; leaves 

 ternate, margin entire; stipules ciuline, setaceous, partial 

 ones wanting,- flowers axillary and terminal, racemose, or 

 spiked, spikes capitare, mostly peduncuhite; raclus brac- 

 teate, bractes irifid, 2-flowere(I; calix bibracteolate at the 

 base. Flowers vioL i-purple or ochroleucous, the vexil- 

 luiTi then marked with a purple spot. (These characters 

 exist JiPifornily in 8 species which I have examined.) 



Species. 1. L,. sesdlifora. Krect and somewhat ramose; 

 leaflets ob!ong--oval, obtuse; fascicles of flowers subsessile, 

 axillary ones partly racemose; ioment naked, acute. Hab. 

 Common from New York to Florida, and throughout the 

 western states. 



2. reticulata. Stem simple, rigid and erect; leaflets ob- 

 long-linear, strigosely pubescent beneath; fascicles of 

 flowers subsessile, very numerous, axillary ones subrace- 

 mose; Ioment naked, acute. Hab. In New Jersey. A spe- 

 cies distinct from the preceding, thougii confounded with 

 it by Michaux; it is taller and apparently never branch- 

 ed. 3, ccipitata. 4. polys tachia. 



5. * Stiivei. Erect and simple, softly and sericeously vil- 

 lous; leaflets elliptic-oval; spikes pedunculate, scarcely 

 longer than the leaves; ioments naked, pubescent- Hab. 

 In the sandy fields of New Jersey. This very distinct 

 species I have dedicated to the memory of my friend W. 

 Stuve, M. D. of Bremen, who discovered it. Obs. Stem 

 sublig-neous, but annual, simple, and rigidly erect, 2 to 3 

 feet high. Stipules cauline, sphacelate, and setaceous as 

 in the rest of the genus. The whole plant covered with a 

 soft and velvet-like villus, but most abundant on the under 

 surface uf the leaves; lower petioles near an inch long, 

 leaves obtuse, destitute of the partial stipules of Uedysa- 

 rum m common with the genus, axills ramuliferous, ramuli 

 ehoit and abortive or ultimately floriferous. Spike or ra- 

 ceme pedunculate, peduncle about an inch in length; 

 flowers as usual, in pairs, but distinct and not crowded, 

 each pair subtended by a trifid bracte. cahx bibracieate 

 Ht the base, segments subulate, not veined,, shorter than 



