546 



FABACE^. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



Fig. CCCLXXI. 



adhere by the suture and split along the axis ; and, finally, Detarium, Dipteryx, and 

 others, are true drupes, in no respect different from those of Almondworts. 



The divisions that have been proposed in this extensive Order 

 are explained in the succeeding List of Genera, for which I am 

 indebted to the kindness of Mr. Bentham, who regards the groups 

 called Csesalpiniese and Mimosese as Sub-orders only. I do not, 

 indeed, for my own part, feel the necessity of so considering them, 

 and should, on the contrary, with some other Botanists, be inclined 

 to regard them as equivalent to what are elsewhere called 

 Natural Orders. It must be confessed, however, that this is a 

 point of little importance. 



The geographical distribution of this Order has been considered 

 with great care by De Candolle, from whom the substance of 

 what follows is borrowed. 



One of the first thmgs that strikes the observer is, that if a 

 number of genera of Leguminous plants have as extensive a range 

 as those of other Orders, there is a considerable number of 

 which the geogi'aphical limits are clearly defined. Thus the 

 genera of New Holland are in most cases unknoMTi 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 Umits of Europe and the neighbour- 

 ing borders of Asia and Africa. About 92 genera out of 280 are 

 what are called sporadic, or dispersed over diff'erent and widely 

 separated regions, such as Teplirosia, Acacia, Glycine, and So- 

 phora. The species are found more or less in every part of the 

 known wox^ld, with the exception, perhaps, of the islands of Tris- 

 tan d'Acugna and St. Helena, neither of which do they inhabit ; 

 but they are distributed in extremely unequal proportions ; in 

 general they diminish sensibly in approaching the pole. This will be apparent from the 

 following table : — 



Europe, with the exception of the Mediterranean . . 1 84 



Siberia 129 



United States 183 



China, Japan, and Cochm-China . . . . . . 77 



Levant 250 



Basin of the Mediterranean 468 



Canaries • . 21 



Arabia and Egypt 87 



Mexico 152 



West Indies 221 



East Indies 452 



Equinoctial Amei'ica ........ 605 



Equinoctial Africa 130 



New Holland 229 



Isles of Southern Africa ...... 42 



South America, beyond the tropics 29 



Cape of Good Hope 353 



South Sea Islands 13 



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



Equinoctial Zone 1 602 



Beyond the tropics to the north 1312 



south 524 



Since the time when tliis calculation was made, the Order has been prodigiously enlarged, 

 and a very considerable number of species has been added to those from the tropical 

 parts of America, New Holland, and the Cape of Good Hope. Nevertheless the 

 calculation, with these exceptions, is instructive as a general sketch of the statistics 

 of this branch of Geograpliical Botany. 



The Leguminous Order is not only among the most extensive that are known, but 

 also one of the most important to man, whether we consider the beauty of the numerous 

 species, which are among the gayest-colom'ed and most graceful plants of every region, 

 or their appUcability to a thousand useful pm-poses. The Cercis, which renders the 

 gardens of 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 dm*able wood ; the 



Fig. CCCLXXI.— Dipteryx odorata, the Tonga Bean, divided perpendicularly. 



