124 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS, 



III. Mimosese. — The flowers are regular, very minute, 

 and clustered in small tufts. 



All three agree in having the fruit a pod or 

 legume, from the Latin word for bean, Icgumcn (Fig. 

 46, VI.). It bursts down both edges into two pieces, 

 or valves (Fig. 47). 



The legume is a most characteristic feature of 



Fig. 47.— Legume of Pea split length- 

 wise: E outer, EN inner, layer of 

 the pericarp ; l, placenta ; f, funi- 

 cuius; o, seed. 



Fig. 48.— Spirally 

 twisted legume 

 of Lucerne {^Me- 

 dica'go sati'va). 



this family, but it may take special forms. That of 

 the pea is the usual or typical character ; but in the 

 lucerne it coils up as shown in Fig. 48, or it may 

 cling tightly to the seeds so that it breaks up with- 

 out separating from them ; each piece has one seed 

 (Fig. 49). 



The seeds have large embryos without any en- 

 dosperm, their reserve food being stored up in the 



