LEGUMINOS^. (pulse FAMILY.) 107 



1. !E. herbacea, L. Stems herbaceous, several from a veiy thick root, 

 prickly, the flowering ones mostly leafless ; leaves long-petiolcd ; leaflets ovate 

 or somewhat hastate ; vexillum lanceolate, folded ; seeds scarlet. — Light sandy 

 soil, Florida to North Carolina, and west to Mississippi. April and May. — 

 Stems 2° - 4° high. Racemes 1^-2° long. Flowers 2' long. Legume open- 

 ing by one suture opposite the seeds. 



31. CLITORIA, L. 



Calyx tubular, 5-toothed. Vexillum very large, spurless on the back, obovate, 

 emarginate. Keel shorter than the wings. Stamens monadelphous. below. 

 Style curved, hairy. Legume stipitate, linear-oblong, torulose, veinless. — Peren- 

 nial herbs, with trifoliolate leaves, and very large puqjlc flowers on axillary 

 peduncles. Bracts opposite, 



1. C. Mariana, L. Smooth; stem erect or twining ; leaflets ovate-oblong, 

 pale beneath ; peduncles shorter than the leaves, 1 - 3-flowered ; legume 3-4- 

 seeded. — Dry soil. Florida to Mississippi, and northward. July and August. — 

 Stem l°-3° long. Flowers 2' long, pale purple. Bracts shorter than the calyx. 

 Legume lj'-2' long. 



32. CENTROSEMA, DC. 



Calyx short, 5-(lcft, tlic 2 upper lobes more or less united. Vexillum very 

 large, spurred on the back, orbicular, emarginate. Keel nearly as long as the 

 wings. Stamens monadelphous below. Style smooth. Legume nearly sessile, 

 linear, compressed, the sutures thickened, the valves lined with an intra-margi- 

 nal vein. — Twining herbs, with trifoliolate leaves, and very large purple flowers 

 on short axillary peduncles. Bracts opposite. 



I. C. Virginiana, Benth. Rough with a short hooked pubescence ; stem 

 very slender, much branched; leaflets oblong or linear-oblong, strongly reticu- 

 late ; peduncles single or by pairs, 1 - 4-flowered ; calyx-teeth subulate, barely 

 exceeding the ovate bracts ; vexillum adhesive ; legume slender, elongated, 

 curved, many-seeded. (Clitoria Virginiana, Willd.) — Dry soil, Florida to 

 Mississippi, and northward. June - September. — Flowers 1^' long. Legume 

 4' - 6' long. 



33. AMPHICARPJEA, Ell. 



Flowers of 2 kinds ; those on the upper racemes perfect, but mostly abortive, 

 those near the base of the stem or on the prostrate branches apetalous, but 

 fruitful. Calyx tubular, 4 - 5-toothed. Vexillum obovate and partly enclosing 

 the wings and keel. Stamens diadelphous, or in the fertile flowers distinct or 

 wanting. Fertile legume obovate, fleshy, 1 - 2-seeded. — Twining annual or 

 perennial herbs, with trifoliolate leaves. Flowers white or purplish, in simple 

 or compound axillary racemes. 



1. A. monoica, Nutt. Hairy ; stems much branched ; leaflets rhombic- 

 ovate ; sterile racemes single or by pairs, often compound, nodding ; bracts stri- 



