233 ^ -XL. LEGUMiNosiE. [Desmodiuk 



m 



m 



to the lateral protuberances of the keel. Ovules usually 3- or 4, Pod rarely 

 of more than 2 articles and often only 1, pubescent with clinging hairs, the 

 upper suture straight, the lower deeply and broadly indented, each article 5 

 to 6 lines long and about 2 broad, tapering to each end, flat and iiidehiscent. 



W, S. "Wales. Woods on the Clarence river, Beckler. This species, different from all 

 others of the genus in its thorny branchlets, is otherwise more nearly allied to the section 

 Heieroloma, subsection Podocarpia, than to Dicerma, 



5. D. gangeticum, DC. Prod, ii. 327. A decumbent or erect herb or 

 undershrub, the large-leaved forms attaining 2 or 3 ft., the small ones 

 slender and under I ft., sprinkled with a few hairs. Leaves all 1-foliolate, in 

 the large forms ovate or ovate-lanceolate 3 or 4 in. long, in the smaller ones 

 broadly ovate-cordate or almost orbicular ^ to 1 in. long. Eacernes long and 

 , slender, terminal or in the upper axils. Flowers small, the pedicels in pairs, 

 under 2 lines long. Bracts linear-subulate, persistent to the time of flower- 

 ing, but falling off soon after. Calyx about 1 line long, the lobes longer than 

 the tube. Petals twice as long. Pod sessile, minutely pubescent, the upper 

 margin slightly, the lower deeply indented ; articles 4 to 6, 1 to 1^ lines long 

 and broad, flat, thin and iudehiscent.— W. andArn. Prod.ii. 125. 



W. Australia- Victoria river, F, Mueller. 



Queensland. Endeavour tis^v. Banks and Sola/ider ; Northumberland Islands, i^- 

 Brown; :Morcton Bay, C. 'S'///d'r^;.Rockhainpton, BaHachj ; Broad Sound, Bowman, 

 The species is widely spread over E. India and the Archipelago. 



brachypodiun 



A 



ther rigid, erect or decumbent perennial, of 1 to 2 ft., slightly pubescent, the 

 specimens often assuming a bluish-black tint when diy. ^Leaflets 3 or in tlie 

 lowest leaves solitary, from broadly ovate almost orbicular to oval-oblong, very 

 obtuse, mostly 1 to 2 in. long, rather stiff and strongly reticulate, the stipellse 

 long. Stipules rather broad, striate, acuminate. Flowers small, usually in 

 •pairs, the lower ones distant, in a long terminal rigid raceme. Pedicels veiy 

 short and recurved. Bracts subulate-acuminate, persistent to the tiffie of 

 flowering but falling off soon after. Calyx 1| lines long, the lobes not longer 

 than the tube. Petals about twice as long. Pod sessile or shortly stipitate, 

 pubescent with clinging hairs, the upper suture slightly the lower deeply in- 

 dented ; articles 4 to 6, about 2 lines long and nearly as broad, thin, relicu- 

 late and iiidehiscent. 



Queensland. Burdeliin river, F.Muelhr; Port Curtis, M'Gillivrai/ ; Percy Wani 

 i:./,""'"^ ' ^o^^^f^a^ipton, DaUachj, Bowman^ Moreton Bay, F. Mueller, Leick- 



A „ ^' ."^*^^« ^oft Jackson f o the Blue Mountains, iJ. Brown, Banks and Solar*^' 

 J. Cunmngham, Woolh, etc. ; Hunter's River, American Exploring ExjiedUion ; ^^^ 

 Englaud, C. Stuart; head of the Gwydir, Lekhhardl. 



7. D. varians, Endl. in Ann. TFien. Mm. i. 185. Stock woody \yitlj 



prostrate difluse or ascending slender stems of \ to U ft , the whole plant 

 pubescent or nearly glabrous. Leaflets 3, in the lower leaves or sometimes 

 all broadly obovate or almost orbicular or obcordate, | to | in. long, the up- 

 per ones or sometimes nearly all ovate oblong or almost linear, | to 1 >nIo"°- 

 Stipules small, acute. Flowers very small, in distant pairs, in slender ter- 

 mmal racemes. Pedicels filiform, short when in flower, spreading and nearly 



hardt. 



