166 XL. LEGUMiNOS.!;. [Bossiaa. 



longer than the calyx.— DC. Prod. ii. 117 ; B. ensata, Meissn. in PI. Preiss.* 

 i. 81, not of Sieb. 



^V. Aixstralia, R, Brown, Drummond, Preiss, and others. 



The following forms, diiferent as they lookj pass much into each other; all have similar 

 flowers and fruit, differiug from B. riparia in the comparatively larger staudard and iu the 

 small fringed keel, and from B. ensata by the same characters and in the narrower pod with- 

 out the thick margins oi that species. 



a. 7iormaUs, Branches elongated, leafless or nearly so, not spinescent.- — Lodd. Bot. Cab. 

 t. 11 J '.\ appears to represent this form. — King George's Sound, R. Brown^ Drummond^ olli 

 ColL «. 87, (tnd in another ColL n, 84 ; Phillips river, MaxwelL 



b. ojcyclada. Branches numerous, divaricate, narrovv or rarely very hroad, leafless, 

 mostly spinescent. — B. oxijclada, Turcz. in Bull. Mosc. 1853, i. 284. — Brummond, Ith 

 ColL n. 82. 



c. virgafa. Branches elongated, more or less leafy, not spinescent. — B. virgafa. Hook. 

 Bot. Mag. t. 398(); B. paucifolia, Benth. in Bot. Reg. 1841, Misc. 53 ; Meissn. in PL 

 Freiss. i. 81. — Drammond^ n. 258 ; Tone, Gordon, and Blackwood rivers, Oldfield, 



^. foiiosa. Leaves rather numerous, branches often spinesdent. — B. paucifoHctjlM' 

 Bot. Reg. 1843, t. 63; B, spinescens, Meissu. in PI. Preiss. i. 82.— Swan River, Brum- 

 mond, \st ColL and n. 259; stony hills, York district, Preiss, n. 1030, 1031; stouy 

 places, S. Hutt river, Oldfield. 



Closely allied to this is a stunted shrub from Dirk Hartog's Island, Milne^ with very 

 spinescent fiat branches, and small coriaceous broadly obovate leaves, near those oi B.rhoU' 

 bifolia or B, microphglla^ but without flowers to determine its characters. 



29. B. bracteosa, F.Muell. Herb. A glabrous leafless shrub, nearly 

 allied to B. enmta, but more rigid, with flattened branches and broad thickly 

 coriaceous wings, indented at the nodes so as to form prominent obtuse an- 

 gles, with erect brown lanceolate scales, often 1 to 3 lines long, but very de- 

 ciduous. Flowers solitary at the nodes, small and almost sessile. Bracts 

 imbricate, the inner ones and bracteoles above 1 line long, but often very de- 

 ciduous. Calyx about 2 lines long, rather rigid, the lobes shorter than the 

 tube, obtuse, and all 5 nearly equal. Standsu-d twice as long as the calyx; 

 keel scarcely shorter than the standard, deeply coloured, quite ghibrous. 

 Ovary stipitate, with about 8 ovules. Pod not seen. 



Victoria. In the Australian Alps, on the Mitta-MItta and Macalistcr rivers, at an 

 elevation of 3000 to 4000 fl., and on Mount Latrobe, F. Mueller. F. Mueller is disposed 

 to include this among the forms of B. scolopendria, but iiidependentl j of the more rigul 

 habit, the differences in the bracts and calyx are generally very constant in Bossutas. 



30. B. riparia, ^. Ctf««. /7er^. A glabrous leafless shrub, usually procum- 

 bent or diffuse, resembling some of the small-flowered specimens of B. ensata, 

 but diiferent in the proportion of the petals and in the pod. It is also usu^"? 

 more branched, the wings very nan-ow and less indented at the r.odes- 

 Flowers small, on short pedicels, with very small bracteoles. Calyx under i 

 Imes long, the lobes very short, the 2 upper ones united in a broad truncate 

 upper hp as in B. ensata, the lower ones narrow, but scarcely shorter. Petal* 

 fully twice as long as the calyx, tlie keel almost as long as the standard, the 

 wuigs scarcely so long. Ovary stipitate, glabrous, with 4 to 6 ovules. Pj" 

 i in. long or rather more, scarcely more than 2 lines broad, on a stipes usually 

 longer than the calyx ; valves thin, with nerve-like margins.—^, ensata, HooK- 

 f. Fl. Tasm. i, 94, but scarcely of Sieber. 



Downs of Mineri, on the upper branches of the Lachlan river, / ''**' 



1 111 r\£ir'Cii/vt\ 



Wales 



tingham (apeciiuens imperfect). 



