Liberia ^ 



hard wood, and decoctions of the pods are used as a drastic 

 purgative. 



Ormocarpum verrucosum, Inumtv. : a glabrous tree or shrub with simple 

 papery ovate leaves, 3 — 4 in. by li— 2 in., small scanty racemes 

 of white red-veined papilionaceous flowers, I in. long, and 2—5- 

 jointed pods, the joints with longitudinal ribs and scattered 

 tubercles; near water at Grand Basa, I'ogei, 103!; Monrovia, 

 W/ivtc ! 



Stylosanthes erecta, Bcaiiv. : a much-branched stiff hairy shrub with 

 prominently nerved 3foliolate leaves, \ — \ in. long, and in- 

 conspicuous often apetalous flowers, covered by rigid reticulate 

 hirsute bracts in oblong terminal or subtenninal heads ; Grand 

 Basa, covering large patches of ground, ]^ogcl, 56 ! Cape Palmas, 

 Vogei 5 ! 



Arachis hypogaea, L. : a diffuse herb with 4-foliolatc leaves and 

 solitary axillary papilionaceous flowers, only the lower ones 

 fertile, the pods ripening under ground (hence the name "Ground 

 Nut "), a native of Brazil, cultivated in Liberia, according to 

 Vogel. — Cultivated throughout the tropics for the seeds, which 

 are used as food, and for the extraction of oil. 



Desmodium lasiocarpum, DC: a more or less rusty hairy shrub or 

 undershrub with simple ovate leaves, very slender usually 

 spikelike often panicled racemes of small pinkish or purplish 

 papilionaceous flowers and 5— 6-articulate tomentose pods more 

 or less cohering by their hairs ; Kakatown, \Vliylc\ 



D. incanum, DC. : a weed, downy in the upper part, with 3-foliolate 

 leaves (the terminal leaflet up to 4 in. long), loose racemes of 

 reddi.sh papilionaceous flowers, i in. long, and 5 — 8-jointed hairy 

 pods deeply constricted between the joints from one side, i in. 

 by -^ in. ; by the roadside in Monrovia, Naninanu. 



L. mauritanicnm, DC : an erect low herb, vci}' similar to the pre- 

 ceding, but with smaller leaflets (the terminal up to i in. long), 

 and purple flowers; Kakatown, [fV/j'/t' ! ; Grand Basa, J''ogt'/, 

 48 ! ; Cape Palmas, Ansell\ 



D. paleaceum, Giiill. and Perr. : an undershrub with 3-foliate leaves, 

 lanceolate to linear-oblong leaflets, shining above, and 3 — 4 in. 

 by I — I in., long dense more or less panicled spikelike tufted 

 racemes of small rose-coloured papilionaceous flowers and 5 — 7- 

 articulate linear dark pods ; Kakatown^ WliyteX 



594 



