282 ^''PS' LEGUMINOS^. Apios. 



pointed with the indurated subulate style. — Trees or shrubs, rarely herbace- 

 ous plants; the stem and petioles often prickly. Leaves pinnately trifolio- 

 late. Stipules small, free from the petiole : partial stipules gland-like. Ra- 

 cemes elongated : pedicels usually two or three together. 



Mr. Bentham, who suspects tlie legume of Erythriiia tobe indehiscent, inclines to 

 separate it, with Mucuiia and Butea, as a subtribe. We have not examined the ma- 

 ture fruit. 



"7 1. E. herbacea (Linn.) : branches herbaceous, somewhat prickly, rising 

 from a very thick subterranean trunk or cormus ; leaflets broadly rhomboidal 

 and somewhat hastately 3-lobed, mostly glabrous; racemes terminal; calyx 

 truncate, obscurely toothed or nearly entire; vexillum lanceolate, 4 or 5 times 

 longer than the calyx; keel-petals (distinct) and wings scarcely exserted ; sta- 

 mens monadelphous with the sheath entire at the base, thence diadelphous. — 

 Walt. Car: p. ISO ; IVllld. sp. 3. p. 912 ; Bot. mag. t. 887 ; Michx. ! fl. 2. 

 p. 61 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 92 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 190 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 411. Co- 

 rallodendron, &c., Trew. ehret. t. 58 ; Catesb. Car. t. 49. 



In rich light soil, S. Carolina and Georgia ! to Florida ! and Louisiana. 

 March-May. — Cormus irregular, often branched, frequently rising a httle 

 above the surface of the ground, " yellow and esculent," Dr. Boykin. Stems 

 2-4: feet high, with a short hooked prickle at the base of the petioles, which 

 are also a little prickly. Racemes very long and spicate : the flowers deep 

 scarlet, 2 inches long. Seeds about the size of the common bean, bright 

 scarlet. 



E. Corallodendron stands in Muhlenberg's Catalogue as a doubtful native of 

 Florida. No other writer has noticed it as a native of the United States. 



2. Leaves pinnately b-lb-foliolate, exstipellate. 



9. APIOS. Boerh.; MoencJi, meth. p. 165 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 113. 



Calyx campanulate, obscurely bilabiate ; the upper lip of 2 very short round- 

 ed teeth ; the lower lip with the lateral teeth nearly obsolete, the inferior one 

 lanceolate-subulate and longer. Vexiflum very broad, with a longitudinal 

 fold in the centre, reflexed : keel long, falcate, and with the stamens and 

 style at length spirally twisted. Stigma emarginate. Legume rather terete, 

 slightly falcate, many-seeded. — A perennial twining nearly glabrous herb. 

 Root bearing numerous edible tubers. Leaves 5-7-foliolate, minutely stipu- 

 late. Racemes axillary, sometimes compound: pedicels short, 3 or 4 together 

 on approximated knobs. Calyx with 2 minute caducous bracteoles at the 

 base. Flowers brownish-purple. 



J\ 'A. tuberosa (Moench, 1. c.)—Pursh, fl. 2. p. 273 ; Nutt. I c. ; Ell. sk. 2. 

 p. 235 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 390. Glycine Apios, Liim. ; Bot. mag. t. 1198 ; 

 Michx.! Jl. 2. ;p. 83; Hook. ! jl. Bor.-Avi. 1. p. 161; Darlingt.fi. Cast. 

 p. 428. 



a. nearly glabrous ; leaflets ovate-lanceolate. 



P. pubescent ; leaflets lanceolate, acuminate. — A. pubescens, Nutt. mss. 



Moist shady places, Canada ! to Florida ! west to Missouri ! P. Woods of 

 the Rocky Mountains, Nuttall. July. — Stem slender, scabrous* Racemes 

 dense, shorter than the leaves. Flowers odorous. 



