Order 46.— LEGUMINOS^E. 299 



a foot high. Lfts. about 3" long, very numerous. Fls. small, capitate. It is oc- 

 casionally cultivated for the curiosit}' of its spontaneous motions ; — the leaves bend- 

 ing, folding, and apparently shrinking away from the touch of the hand. 



2. SCHRAN'KIA, Willd. Sensitive Brier. (In honor of Francis 

 de Paula Schrank, a German botanist.) Flowers £ $ ; calyx minute, 

 5-toothed ; petals united into a funnel-shaped, 5-cleft corolla ; stamens 

 8 to 10, distinct or monadelphous ; legume long and narrow, cchinate, 

 dry, 1-cellcd, 4-valved, many-seeded. — 11 Prickly herbs. St. procum- 

 bent. Lvs. sensitive, bipinnate. Fls. in spherical heads, purplish. 



S. uncinata Willd. St. angled, grooved; pinnte 6 to 8 pairs; lfts. numerous, 

 minute, elliptic-oblong or linear; hds. axillary, 1 to 2 together, on peduncles 

 shorter than the lvs. ; leg. lor.g and slender, very prickly. — Dry soils, Clark Co., 

 Mo. (Mead), and Southern States. St. 2 to if long, and with the petioles and pe- 

 duncles armed with short, sharp prickles turned downwards. Lfts. about 2" by 

 J". Ped. 2 to 3' long, hds. \ to -i-' diam. Pods 2 to 4' long. May— JL (S. an- 

 gustata T. & G.) 



3. VACHEL'LIA, W. and Arn. Sponge Tree. Stamens very nu- 

 merous, distinct; legume cylindrical, turgid, scarcely dehiscent; seeds 

 in a double row, imbedded in pulp. Otherwise as in Acacia. — Tree 

 armed with straight, stipular spines. Lvs. bipinnate, with a gland. Fls. 

 in globular heads, yellow. 



V. Farnesiana W. & Arn. Pinnaj 4 to 8 pairs ; lfts. 15 to 20 pairs, veiny, ob- 

 long, crowded; ped. 2 or 3 together. — Grows about N. Orleans (Hale) and along 



• the Gulf to St. Marks, Fla. Lfts. about 2" long. Pods 2 to 3" long, blackish 

 when ripe. Said to yield gum. 



4. DESMAN 'THUS, Willd. (Gr. deap), a bundle, dvdog, flower.) 

 Flowers £ or £ $ ; calyx valvate, campanulate, 5-toothed ; petals 5, 

 distinct; stamens 5 or 10, distinct; legume dry, flat, 2-valved, 4 to 

 6-seedcd, smooth. — Herbs with bipinnate lvs. and whitens, in axillary, 

 pedunculate heads. Stip. setaceous. Petioles with one or more glands. 

 D. brachylobus Benth. Erect, smoothish ; pinnte 6 to 13 pairs, lfts. minute, 20 



to 30 pairs; fls. all perfect, pcntandrous ; pods short (1' long), oblong, somewhat 

 curved, 2 to 4-seeded, and crowded. — %■ Along the Miss, from 111. to La, Sts. 

 striate, 1 to 3f high. Jn. — Aug. (Darlingtonia brachyloba and glandulosa DC.) 



5. ACA'CIA, Necker. (Gr. and^o), to sharpen ; alluding to the spines.) 

 Flowers polygamous ; calyx valvate, 4 to 5-toothcd ; petals 4 or 5, united 

 below, rarely distinct ; stamens 8 to 200 ; legume continuous, not 

 jointed, dry, 2-valved, many-seeded. — Trees, shrubs or herbs, spineless, 

 or with stipular spines. Lvs. (in the N. Am. species) bipinnate. Fls. 

 in heads or spiked. (This is a large and ornamental genus of chiefly 

 tropical plants, much cultivated in the greenhouse. In many of them 

 the leaflets disappear and phyllodia (§ 307) take their places.) 



X A. lutea Leav. Prostrate, herbaceous, minutely strigous; stip. lance-subulate; 

 .• pinnce 3 to 5 pairs, lfts. 12 to 20 pairs, very small (2" long); hds. oblong-cylindric, 

 the peduncles longer than the leaves ; fls. yellow, decandrous ; pods broad and 

 flat, obtuse, about 6-seeded, and raised on a slender stipe. — Prairies Fla., La. and 

 Ala. Its herbago much resembles Mimosa strigillosa, except the stipules. Pods 

 1 to 2' long, 8 ' wide, the stipe about 6''. Lvs. ciliate, sensitive, with no glands. 



2 A. Julibrassin Willd. Tree glabrous, unarmed; pinna 8 to 12 pairs, lfts. 20 

 to 30, halved, acute, inequilateral: gland depressed at the base of the petiole; hds. 

 pedunculate, forming a terminal panicle ; stam. numerous, long, exserted. — A very 

 ornamental tree cultivated and sparingly naturalized in the Gulf States. Corollas 

 white, with purplish stamens. Pods large, pointed at both ends, contracted be- 

 tween the s&eds. 



