Il6 PAPILIONACE^. 



inch, lanceolate acuminate, glabrous except on the mar- 

 gin, closely appressed to the stem. Leaf-stalk 2 inches 

 hairy. Leaflets three, I to 3 inches wide ; the middle one 

 rhomboid ; lateral oblique ; stalks H. inch. Flowers small 

 in lax terminal racemes or panicles, up to 12 inches. 

 Bracts deciduous; pedicels very slender, usually in pairs, 

 sloping up. Calyx J^ inch. Corolla J^ to ^ inch, red. 

 Pod of one to three half-diamond-shape joints, J^ to ^ 

 inch long, with upper suture slightly curved, t. 86. 

 Wight Ic. 985. 



Nilgiris : near Ootacamund. Pulney at lower levels. Fyson 

 3018. Bourne 157. 



Gen. Dist. Usually at lower levels ou the hills of South India. Also 

 tropical Africa, Abyssinia, Natal, Mascarene islands. Varies to a certain 

 extent, leaflets acute or blunt, with entire or sinuate-crenate margin. 



Desmodium parvif olium Z)C.; Wall. Cat. 5700!; F.B.L ii 

 174, L 47. Stems (main branches) pubescent in the young- 

 er parts, glabrous and often red in the older, i to 20 inches 

 thick. Lateral branches numerous, sticking out stiffly at 

 right angles, leafy from the base to the flowering part. 

 Stipules finely pointed, up to Yz inch hairy, persistent 

 after the leaf has fallen, e.g. at the base of a branch. 

 Leaves reflexed close to the axis, of one or pinnately of 

 three leaflets : leaflets, ovate, obtuse mucronate, with 

 reticulate translucent veins ; the terminal largest, % to 

 ^ inch long ; the lateral smaller : stalks not longer than 

 the stipules. Racemes terminating the lateral branches, 

 slender as a hair, pubescent : bracts ovate, boat-shaped 

 deciduous ; pedicels up to Yz inch. Sepals i/io to Ys inch, 

 slender pubescent, the calyx tube a quarter as long. 

 Corolla blue, pale, purple or pinkish, not much exserted ; 

 keel rounded. Fruits on slender erect stalks Yl ^Y % 

 inch, three to five jointed by indentations on both edges ; 

 the joints opening on the top edge only, obscurely reti- 

 culately veined, pubescent, with the calyx persistent at 

 the base. t. 87. 



