Acacia. LEQUMINOSiE. 



403 



drous, all perfect (always?); legumes usually several from each head, nar- 

 rowly linear, subulate-acuminate, sligliily Valcalc, G-8-steded, somewhat 

 intercepted between the seeds, thrice the leiigtli of tlie peduncles; seeds linear- 

 oblong. 



Texas, Dnuiuaond ! Arkansas, Dr. Lcavemcorth ! — Nearly glabrous. 

 Steins apparently 2-3 feet high. Heads usually ripening 4-6 legumes, 

 which are 2-3 incites long, and about a line in Midth. Seeds placed leiK'th- 

 wise in the pod. 



4. D. strictus (Bertol.?) : suflrutesceni at the base ; stems ascending, some- 

 what angled ; leiives sliort ; i)iimrc 3-4 pairs, with an oval concavegland at 

 the base of the lowest pair ; leaflets 0-8 pairs, linear-oblong, ciliate ; stipules 

 setiform; peduncles solitary, not bracteate, nearly the length of the leaves, 

 few-flowered ; head subglobose ; flowers nearly all perfect, decandrous ; le- 

 gumes linear, straight or somewhat falcate, acuminate, longer than the pe- 

 duncles, about 8-seeded ; seeds oval. — DC. prodr. 2. ^j. 44.5 / 



Texas, Drummond .' — Stems 1-2 feet in length. Leaves small and short. 

 Legumes 1-li inch long. — We refer our plant to Desmanthus strictus with 

 some hesitation : the character we have given difTers in some respects from 

 that of De CandoUe, and we have no authentic specimen for comparison. 



5. D. depressns (Humb. &: Bonpl.) : stem suffruticose, prostrate ; pinnae 2 

 pairs ; petiole with a gland at the apex (between the lower pinna^) ; spikes 

 few-flowered, capitate: flowers decandrous ; le2;ume narrowly linear. DC— 



Willd. spec. 2. p. 1046 ; Kunth, Mim. etc. p. 115, t. 35 ;" DC. i. c. Mi- 

 mosa dejjressa, Pair, suppl. l.p. 58. 



Key West, Mr. Bennett! " Stem sometimes 4-5 feet in lenoih, reclining 

 on a Cactus." — Our specimen is iinperfect. 



6. D. diffusu.s (W'lWd.) : stem suffruticose, prostrate; pinna; 4-5 pairs; 

 spikes few-Ilowered, ca]jitate ; flowers ])entandrous ; legume narrowly linear. 

 DC. — Willd. I.e. : DC. prodr. 2. p. AM. Mimosa Peraambucana, Linn. 

 BI. Americana pigra siliipiis longis, &c., Pluk. aim. t. 307,/. 3. 



Key West, Mr. Bennett ! — Our specimen is in fruit only, but in this state 

 it accords with the figure of Plukenet. The legumes are 2 inches in length, 

 not remarkably narrow, slightly acuminate, containing about 20 roundish 

 seeds. There is a gland between the lowest pair of pinnae. 



65. ACACIA. NecTcer ; Willd. spec. 4. ;?. 1049 ; Ku?ith, Mim. etc. p. 74. 



Flowers polygamous (perfect and staminate). Calyx 4-5-toothed. Petals 

 distinct or usually united below into a tubular-campanulate or infundibuli- 

 form 4-5-cleft corolla. Stamens various in number (8-200), distinct or 

 united at the t>ase, inserted into the base of the corolla or on the stalk of the 

 ovary. Legume continuous, not jointed, 1-celled, dry, 2-valvcd, many- 

 seeded. — Trees or often shrubs, very rarely herbaceous plants, unarmed, or 

 sometimes prickly ; the stipules often changed into spines ; very various in 

 foliage and habit. Leaves in the Nortli American species bipinnate, with 

 numerous leaflets. Flowers mostly yellow or while, in globular heads or 

 elongated spikes. 



* Decandrous. 



1. A. lulea (Leavenworth) : herbaceous, unarmed, prostrate, pubescent ; 

 branches elongated, angled ; stipules lanceolate-subulate, deciduous; petioles 

 destitute of glands ; pinnae 3-5 pairs ; leaflets oblong-linear, obtuse, ciliate, 



