402 LEGUMINOSJE. Desmanthus. 



ing ill the neutral florets. Stamens 10 or sometimes 5 ; the filaments in the 

 lower flowers of each spike sterile, sometimes antheriferous, either dilated or 

 filiform. Legume continuous, dry, coriaceo-membranaceous, compressed, 

 2-valved, several-seeded. — Diffuse or procumbent unarmed herbs or suf- 

 frutescent plants. Leaves with stipules, biphinate, often sensitive. Flowers in 

 ovate, subglobose, or cylindrical heads or spikes (white, the filaments often 

 yellow) : peduncles axillary. 



We are not well satisfied with the distinguishing characters of this and the 

 nearly alUcd genera. The section Dichrostachys has ah-eady been removed by 

 Arnott, and the genus perhaps requires still farther reduction. Our D. Jamesii is a 

 true Desmanthus, with many-fiowercd heads, tlie filaments of tlie lower flowers 

 sterile, and linear legumes : the leaves are also said to be very sensitive. The suc- 

 ceeding species of the section Desmanthea have the very few-flowered heads which 

 seems to be a nearly universal character in that section ; but the flowers are all per. 

 feet, or at most we sometimes find at the base of the heads one or two barren flowers 

 with perfect stamens. The same thing may be sometimes observed in Darlingtonia 

 brachyloba, with which these two species agree in habit, foliage, setiform stipules, 

 and in almost every point except the narrow pods. The genus Darlingtonia should 

 perhaps bo extended to embrace these and some allied species. 



§ 1. Sterile filaments Jlat or somewhat petaloid : legumes oblong, A-6-seeded, 

 often stipitate : aquatic, j^rostrate. — Neptunia, Lour. 



1. D. lacustris (Willd.) : herbaceous, floating ; leaves destitute of glands ; 

 pinnae 3 pairs ; leaflets 20-30, alternate and opposite, linear, obtuse ; heads 

 ovate, many-flowered ; peduncles 2-3-bracteate ; flowers decandrous ; le- 

 gumes .somewhat falcate, oblong, stipitate. Kunth. — Willd. spec. 4. p. 

 1044 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 444 ,• Kunth. syn. 4. p. 10. Mimosa lacustris, 

 Humh. Sj' Bonpl. 2^1- (equin. t. 16. 



Texas, Drummond! — Stem terete, slender, elongated. Stipules scarioiis, 

 ovate, acuminate. Leaflets somewhat lanceolate, broader at the base, thin, 

 about 3-nerved, ciliate. Peduncles long and .slender. Spikes loose. Flow- 

 ers small, .somewhat pedicelled : filaments of the lower ones antheriferous. — 

 The specimens of Drummond are not in fruit, nor are the flowers in good 

 state : we cannot doubt, however, that they are identical with the D. lacus- 

 tris of New Grenada. 



§ 2. Sterile filaments filiform : legumes linear, many-seeded De.smanthea, 



DC. 



2. D. Jamesii : suffrutescent ; stem decumbeut, angled ; pinn?e 4-5 pairs, 

 with a large concave gland between the lowest pair ; leaflets 10-13 pairs, a 

 little hairy on the margins ; stipules minute, subulate ; j^eduncles scarcely 

 longer than the globose many-flowered heads, solitary or in pairs ; flowers 

 (white) decandrous ; the filaments of the neutral ones filiform ; legumes 

 linear, elongated, somewhat arcuate, 1-5-18-seeded. — Acacia Cooleyi, 

 Eaton. 



Sources of the Canadian River, Arkansas, Dr. James! — Heads axillary 

 or .somewhat panicled at the summit of the branches. Legumes 3-4 inches 

 long, not pointed. 



3. D. leptolobus : herbaceous; stem ascending, angled; pinnae about 10 

 pairs, with a small gland at the base of the lowest or two lower pairs ; leaflets 

 about 24 pairs, linear, slightly ciliate ; stipules setiform ; peduncles solitary, 

 few-flowered, not bracteate, much shorter than the leaves; flowers' pentan- 



