353 



Dolichos Lablab. Linn. Sp. PL p. 1019. Curt. Bot. Mag. t. 896. 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. 3. p. 1037. 



Dolichos purpureus. Sm. Ex. Bot. t. 74. Bot. Reg. t. 830. 

 (an Linn. ?) — D. Lablab, /3. De Cand. 



y. floribus albis. De Cand. — D. Benghalensis. Jacq. Hort. 

 Find. V. 2. p. 124. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. p. 1038. 



A large twining annual. — Stems rounded, thick, and woody 

 near the roots ; herbaceous and rough towards the extremity. 

 Leaves petioled, ternate; leaflets 3-nerved at the base, 

 reticulate, and slightly rugose, rough above, beneath pubes- 

 cent, entire, acuminated, the middle one obsoletely 3-lobed, 

 the lateral ones spreading outwards. Stipules reflexed, 

 withering. Flowers subverticillate, in long, distant, large, 

 purple racemes, which bear a single leaf near the base. 

 Calyx bibracteate, campanulate, 2-lipped; the upper lip 

 broad, obtuse, entire, or sometimes slightly cleft at the 

 apex; under one 3-cleft, the middle segment the longest. 

 Corolla papilionaceous ; Vexillmn reflexed, emarginate, 

 with 4 callous bodies near the base, furrowed between; 

 Wings obovate, auricled at the base, with the claw slender, 

 bent at the point; Keel curved upwards at a right angle, 

 and terminating in a sharp acumen. Stamens diadelphous, 

 the teeth jointed at the base, and embraced so firmly by the 

 lower pair of protuberances of the vexillum as frequently to' 

 separate along with that petal : the free part of the filaments 

 very slender. Pistil oblong, substipitate, the stipes em- 

 braced by a fleshy sheath ; Style compressed, the edge hairy 

 below the simple stigma. Legume short, broad, compressed, 

 acinaciform, rough on both sides to the touch, in consequence 

 of a row of prickles. 



This plant is frequent in hedges which enclose cultivated 

 grounds. It flowers during the cool and rainy seasons. 

 Large luxuriant plants when fully in blossom are extremely 

 showy, and continue so for a long time, in consequence of 

 the successive expansion of their flowers. 



The seeds of the purple, or wild kind, are bitter, and 

 but little employed as an esculent — those of the white, or 



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