1763 



OROBUS atropurpureus. 



Dark Purple Orohus. 



DIADELrillA BECAl^DRlA. 



Nat. ord. Leguminos^, Jass. {Introduction to the Natural System, of 

 Botany, p. 87.) 



OROBUS L. Calyx campanulatus, 5-fidus, lobls 2 supcriorlbu.s brevio- 

 ribus. Corolla papiHonacea. Stamina diadelplui. Stylus gracibs, bnearls, 

 apice villosus. Leyumen cyHndraceum, oblonguin, l-loculare, bivalve, polysper- 



mum. jSemma bilo Hneari. Wcxh-Ji erect ce. iStipulds se?nisayittaf<T.. Petiob 



in setum brevem simplicem desinentes. Foba abrupte pinnatay paucijuya. 

 Racemi axillares, pedunculati. De Cand, prodr. 2. 376. 



O. atropurpureus ; caule sub-shnpbci striate, fobis 1 -plurijugis, foliobsbncaribu3 

 acuminatis glabris, stipubs semisagittatis subunidentatis, peduncubs fobis 

 longioribus, racemis densis secundis mukifloris, corolUs elongatis. 



O. atropurpureus. Desf.fi. atl. 2. 157. t. 196. De Cand. prodr. 2. 386. 



O. siculus. Rafin. caraft. 72. 



O. Rafinesquii. Presl. del. Pray. 41. 



A native of wild places near iVlgiers, where it was first 

 noticed by Desfontaines. It is also met with in Sicily, and 

 in the loamy meadows of eastern Calabria, near Cotrone 

 and Cassano. In the gardens it is a Iiardy perennial, 

 flowering in May ; our drawing was made in the Garden of 

 the Horticultural Society. 



It varies in the number of its leaflets from one to several 

 pair ; Desfontaines' figure and ours represent extreme states. 



* Said to be so named from ono) to excite and ftouQ a bullock ; that is to say, 

 exciting to cattle. Tbc Orobus of tbe Greeks was some sort of vetch. 



