PAPILIONACE^. 109 



Crotalaria scmpcrflorcns Vent. ; RB.I. ii 78, VIII 



50 ; distinguished by its large ear-shaped stipules, broad 



oval green leaves, and magnificent spikes of yellow 



flowers. One of the commonest of road-side shrubs. 



Shrubs or small tree, up to 10 feet ; branches striate : 



stipules up to ^ inch, ear-shaped. Leaf-stalk % inch, 



blade broadly ovate, 2 to 4 inches, conspicuously veined 



and densely pubescent on the under side, ultimately 



glabrous on the upper. Racemes terminal or opposite 



the leaves, naked for the lowest one-quarter; bracts 



small, reflexed; pedicels % inch. Calyx-teeth ^ inch, 



twice the broad tube, narrow. Corolla well exserted; 



standard erect veined green. Pod oblong, turgid, I J^ by 



5^ inch, stalked above the persistent calyx. Seeds % 



inch, brown, with very prominent radicle, t. 81. Wight 



Ic. t. 982. 



By road-sides and the edges of sholas. Nilgiris : in Ootaca- 

 mund itself very common. Pulneys on the downs above Kodai- 

 kanal and down to Shembaganur. Fpon 489, 1923, 2207, 

 3015. Bourne 108, 169, 2< 



Gen. Dist. Tropical mountains of South India, Ceylon and Java. 

 A near ally of the common C. vernicosa L. of the plains, which 

 however is but a herb and has blue flowers. 



Crotalaria madurcnsis Wight in Wall. Cat. 5376 ! ; 

 F.B.I, ii 79, VIII 56; a small tree with light brown stem 

 and very regular upward sloping branches ending in 

 large panicles of pure yellow flowers. Tree 10 or 12 

 feet, branches sloping upwards with remarkable regu- 

 larity and covered with white hairs, some simple others 

 stellate. Petioles ^ inch all pulvinus, without stipules. 

 Leaves obovate cuneate, with a silky sheen on the upper 

 and on the nerves of the lower side. Nerves about twelve 

 pairs, curving slightly forwards at the ends and joined 

 by others, all raised on the lower side and depressed on 

 the upper. Flowers racemed on axillary branches of 4 

 to 10 inches, which are leafy for the greater part and so 



