284 LEGUMINOS^. Rhynchosia. 



Legume obliquely ovate or oblong, often falcate, compressed, 1-2-seeded. 

 Seeds commonly more or less carunculate. — Usually twining or trailing 

 perennial herbs, or rarely shrubby plants. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate, 

 sometimes reduced to a single leaflet, commonly sprinkled (especially be- 

 neath) with resinous atoms. Flowers yellow, racemose, sometimes solitary. 



§ 1. Calyx (marcescent) soviewhat bilabiate, deeply A-cleft ; segments 

 subulate, the lowest one longest: hilum and caruncidus small: stem 

 Ucining. — Eurhyncosia, Am. 



1. R. Caribcea (DC): slightly pubescent; stipules setaceous; leaflets 

 roundish-rhombic, rather acute, membranaceous, nearly glabrous above, 

 dotted with resinous glands beneath ; racemes filiform, rather longer than 

 the leaves, 7-15-flowered ; flowers (minute) reflexed, remote ; legumes scimi- 

 tar-shaped, narrowed at the base, reflexed. — DC. prodr. 2. p. 384. R. mi- 

 nima, DC. I. c. (according to Nutt.) Glycine Caribaea, '"'■ Jarq. ic. rar. t. 

 146"; Kunth, syn. 4. jj. 95. G. reflexa, Nutt. gen. 2. p. 115; Ell. sk. 2. 

 V- 236. 



Damp alluvial soils, S. Carolina to Florida, and west to Louisiana ! and 

 Texas ! — Stem long and slender, climbing over shrubs. Leaflets longer than 

 the petiole ; the terminal one very broadly and obtusely rhomboidal, about 2 

 inches wide ; the lateral ones dilated and roundish on the outside. Racemes 

 3-5 inches long. Calyx about half the length of the expanded corolla: upper 

 lip cleft half-way down, the sinus obtuse : middle segment of the lower lip 

 longest. VexiUum obovate, without gibbous projections. Legume f of an 

 inch long, 2i lines wide. — The Texan plant has smaller leaves and smaller 

 and less falcate legumes than our specimens from Louisiana. 



§ 2. Calyx i-parted nearly to the base, persistent and foliaceous ; seg- 

 ments linear or oblong-lanceolate, ac^iminate, nearly equal, about the 

 length of the corolla: legume much longer than the calyx: hilum and 

 caruncidus small : stem erect, or commonly twining or trailing. — 

 Arcyphyllum, Ell, 



2. i?. menispermoidea (DC.) : stem twining or prostrate, retrorsely pubes- 

 cent; stipules ovate; leaflet solitary, reniform, canescent beneath; pedun- 

 cles very short, 1-3-flowered; segments of the calyx lanceolate. DC. in cmn. 

 sci. nat. 4. p. 102, <^ mem. Leg. t. 55, ^ prodr. 2. p. 384. 



Texas, Drummond! — Stem 2-3 feet long, slender, branching from the 

 base. Leaflets 1-li inch in diameter, pubescent on both surfaces. Racemes 

 usually shorter than the petioles. Calyx with the upper lip cleft one-third 

 of the way down. VexiUum obovate, with a very slight callosity near the 

 base of the limb. "Legume oval-lanceolate, acute, 1-2-seeded scarcely pubes- 

 cent." DC. — This well-marked species was described by De CandoUe from 

 specimens sent from Acapulco, Mexico. 



3. R. tomentosa : stem angular ; stipules linear-lanceolate ; leaves trifo- 

 liolate, or sometimes reduced to a single leaflet; leaflets roundish or ovate; 

 racemes spicate ; legumes oblong, somewhat falcate. — Glycine tomentosa, 

 Linn.; Willd. sp. 3. p. 1061; Michx. ! f. 2. p. 63. 



o. monophylla : pubescent; stem erect, dwarfish (3-6 inches high) ; leaflet 

 mostly solitary, orbicular or reniform, rugosely veined; racemes axillary or 

 aggregated at the summit of the stem. — R. reniformis, DC. prodr. 2. p. 

 384. Trifolium sunpUcifolium, Walt. Car. p. 184. Glycine tomentosa a. 



