Of the genera comprehended in this tribe, those which have petals, and their 

 stamens variously combined, are called § Geoffrieae ; such as have petals, the 

 stamens being distinct, are § Cassieee ; and a couple of genera, with drupa- 

 ceous fruit and no petals, constitute § Detariese. 



The reader is referred to the 2d volume of Decandolle's Prodromus for fur- 

 ther information upon these divisions. 



Geography. The geographical distribution of this order has been consi- 

 dered with great care by Decandolle, from whom I take the substance of what 

 follows. 



One of the first things that strikes the observer is, that if a number of genera 

 of Leguminosae have as extensive a range as those of other orders, there is a 

 very considerable number of which the Geographical limits are clearly denned. 

 Thus the genera of New Holland are in most cases unknown beyond that vast 

 island ; the same may be said of North and South America, and the Cape of 

 Good Hope; and there are between 14 and 15 genera unknown beyond the 

 limits of Europe and the neighbouring borders of Asia and Africa. About 92 

 genera out of 280 are what are called sporadic, or dispersed over different and 

 widely separated regions, such as Tephrosia, Acacia, Glycine, and Sophora. 

 The species are found more or less in every part of the known world, with the 

 exception, perhaps, of the island of Tristan d'Acugna and St. Helena, neither 

 of which do they inhabit ; but they are distributed in extremely unequal pro- 

 portions ; in general they diminish sensibly in approaching the pole, especially 

 the Rectembriae, which are unknown in northern regions. This will be appa- 

 rent from the following table : 



Europe, with the exception of the Mediterranean 



Siberia 



United States . 



China, Japan, and Cochinchina .... 

 Levant ........ 



Basin of the Mediterranean 



Canaries 



Arabia and Egypt 



Mexico 



West Indies 



East Indies 



Curvembr. 



184 



128 



167 



64 



247 



466 



21 



78 



90 



134 



330 



Equinoctial America 246 



Equinoctial Africa 



New Holland 



Isles of Southern Africa 



South America beyond the tropics . . . 



Cape of Good Hope 



South Sea Islands 



81 

 154 



29 



18 

 334 



11 



Rectembr. 







1 

 16 

 13 



3 



2 







9 

 62 

 87 

 122 

 359 

 49 

 75 

 13 

 11 

 19 



2 



This distribution, if condensed, will give the following results : 



Equinoctial zone 



Beyond the trophies to the north 



— - south 



910 

 1277 

 417 



692 



35 



107 



Properties. This order is not only among the most extensive that are 

 known, but also one of the most important to man, with reference to the objects 

 either of ornament, of utility, or of nutriment, which it comprehends. When 

 we reflect that the Cercis, which renders the gardens oY Turkey resplendent 

 with its myriads of purple flowers ; the Acacia, not less valued for its airy 

 foliage and elegant blossoms than for its hard and durable wood ; the Brazi- 

 letto, Logwood, and Rosewoods of commerce ; the Laburnum ; the classical 

 Cytisus ; the Furze of the Broom, both the pride of- the otherwise dreary 

 heaths of Europe ; the Bean, the Pea, the Vetch, the Clove, the Trefoil, the 

 Lucerne, all staple articles of culture by the farmer,are all species of Legumi- 



