124 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. 



iiig ninch elongated in irnit ; flowers yellow, nearly concealed })_> 

 large, ovate, veiny bracts; pods flat, hispid, 2-5-jointed. May- 

 August. Dry, sandy soil. 



XVII. MEIBOMIA. 



Perennial herbs ; sometimes woody at the base ; leaves 

 petioled, trifoliate, stipulate ; leaflets stalked, stipellate ; 

 flowers in terminal racemes or })anicles ; calyx 2-lipped, the 

 upper lip entire or emarginate, the lower 3-cleft ; stamens mon- 

 adelplious or diadelphous ; ovary sessile or stalked ; legume 

 flattened, separating into joints, hispid with hooked liairs. 



1. M. GiiANDiFLORA (Walt.) Kuutze. Pointed-leaved Beg- 

 GAu-WEED. Stem erect, glabrous or pubescent, 2-4 ft. high; leaves 

 mostly crowded at the sunnnit of the stem; petioles long; stipules 

 small ; leaflets thin, ovate or roundish, acuminate, smooth or slightly 

 pubescent on both sides; panicle terminal, long-peduncled, lai'ge, 

 many-flowered; flowers large, puri)le; stipe nuicli longer than the 

 calyx tube ; legume 2-4-jointed, joints half-obovate, concave on the 

 back, hispid. June-September. In rich woods. 



2. M. NUDiFLORA (L.) Kuutzc. Naked-flowered Beggar- 

 weed. Stems smooth, erect, the sterile about 10 in. high, bearing 

 a cluster of leaves at its summit ; leaflets ovate, the mid(Ue one long- 

 stalked, acute or obtuse at the apex, often inequilateral, entire, pale 

 beneath ; fertile stems usually leafless, 1 .}-'} ft. high, bearing a nar- 

 row panicle of small purplish flowers; legume long stipitate, 2-']- 

 jointed, joints straight on the back. June-August. In rich woods. 



8. M. CANESCENS (L.) Kuutze. IIoARY Beggar-weed. stem 

 erect, much-branched, rough, hairy, striate, 3-5 ft. high; leaves 

 petioled; stipules large, ovate, acuminate; leaflets ovate, usually 

 acute, very rough, hairy; racemes terminal, compound; flowers 

 purple, |-?5 in. long; legume sessile, -i-G-jointed, joints convex on 

 the back, rounded below, very hispid. June-August. Dry, open 

 woods. 



XVIII. LESPEDEZA. 



Annual or perennial herbs ; leaves trifoliate ; flowers small, 

 in axillary clusters, often of 2 kinds, the larger showy and 

 perfect, but sterile, the smaller inconspicuous, pistillate and 

 fertile ; calyx tube 5-cleft, the lobes nearly equal ; stamens 

 diadelphous, anthers alike ; legume small, flat, 1-seeded, 

 indehiscent. 



