280 LEGUMINOS^. Phaseolus. 



2-6-8 feet long, rather stout, usually spreading on the ground, but sometimes 

 climbing. Leaflets li-2i inches long, sparsely hirsute beneath, with the 

 lobes commonly distinct and rounded. Peduncles when in liower 2-4 inches 

 long, in fruit 6 inches or more, 6-10-flowered. Calyx with 2 lanceolate 

 lateral bracteoles ; upper tooth minutely bihd ; the lower one lanceolate-subu- 

 late, one-third longer than the tube. Corolla purplish: keel with a very long 

 curved beak, without a horn at the base. Legume about 3i inches long and 

 I of an inch wide, black when ripe. Seeds twice as long as wide, covered 

 with a gray mealy pubescence: hilum linear. 



4. P. heh'Olus (h'mn.) : perennial ; stem slender, retrorsely hirsute ; leaflets 

 ovate-oblong, oblong, or oblong linear, usually entire, about the length of the 

 petiole ; stipules lanceolate ; peduncles slender, 3-6 times as long as the leaves ; 

 flowers few, capitate ; lower lip of the calyx lanceolate, scarcely longer than 

 the tube; legume straight, terete, narrowly linear, 10-11-seeded, slightly pu- 

 bescent; seeds pubescent, reniform. — Linn. sp. 1017 ; Piirsh, jl. 2. p. 470 ; 

 Michx.! fl. 2. p. 60 ; DC. ■prodr. 2. p. 395. P. vexillatus, Linn. I. c.7 ; 

 Pnrsh, i. c. ; DC. I. c. ?; DarUngt. fi. Cest. p. 430. P. peduncularis, 

 Bart. jl. Philad. 2. p. 81. Strophostyles peduncularis. Ell. sk. 2. p. 230. 

 Glycine peduncularis, Muhl. cat. p. 67. G. umbellata, Muhl. in Willd. sp. 

 3.p. 105S? 



a. leaflets mostlv ovate-oblong, obtuse at the base, thin, sparingly hirsute 

 beneath, glabrous above, entire, sometimes a little dilated or angular at the 

 base. 



/?. leaflets elliptical-ovate, acute at the base, entire, sparingly hirsute on 

 bath sides. 



y. leaflets linear-oblong, obtuse at the base, entire, somewhat coriaceous, 

 sparingly hirsute on both sides. 



5. leaflets oblong-lanceolate, acute, dilated at the base, entire, strongly hir- 

 sute benealh, nearly glabrous above. 



c. leaflets 3-lobed. 



a. Sandy fields, New-York ! and New Jersey ! P. y. & S. Virginia ! to 

 Florida! west to Kentucky! and Louisiana! e. Georgia! and Florida! 

 Aug.-Sept. — Stem 3-5 feet long, much more slender than in the preceding 

 species. Leaflets very variable in size and form, but always smaller than 

 in P. diversifolius. Peduncles nearly as slender as the petioles, sometimes 

 8- 10 inches long, 3-5- rarely 7-flowered. Flowers much resembling those 

 ol the preceding species. Beak of the keel with a tooth at the base. Le- 

 gume about 2^ inches long and scarcely 2 lines wide. Seeds clothed with a 

 mealy pubescence : hilum linear-oblong. — We have not seen the fruit of aU 

 the forms described above : some of them possibly may not belong to this 

 species. We are unable to find any difference between P. helvolus and P. 

 vexillatus of North American botanists ; but the West Indian plant may be a 

 distinct species. 



5. P. leiospermus : (perennial?) stem slender, retrorsely hirsute; leaflets 

 linear-oblong, rather obtuse, entire, somewhat coriaceous, as long as the peti- 

 oles, reticulated and hirsute on both surfaces ; stipules subulate ; peduncles 

 slender, much longer than the leaves ; heads few-flowered ; teeth of the 

 calyx lanceolate, as long as the tube ; legume broadly linear, compressed, 

 very hirsute, about 5-seeded ; seeds oval, glabrous. 



Red River, Louisiana, Dr. Hale ! Arkansas, Dr. Leavenworth! — Stem 

 twining. Leaflets li inch long, and 3-5 lines wide, somewhat dilated at the 

 base, hirsute, with short rigid hairs. Peduncles usually 2-3 times as long as 

 the leaves. Flowers smaller than in the two preceding species, but resembling 

 them in structure. Legume scarcely more than an inch long, and 2i lines 

 wide, with a very short abrupt acuraination. Seeds li line long, purple, 

 polished. 



