XLViiT. LEOUMr:sos-i;. 289 



Tride IX. SOPHOREiE. Trees or shrubs (rarely herbs). Leaves 

 impafipiniiate. Staiueas tree or very slightly connate at the base. Pod 

 not jointed, indehisceut or 2-valved. 



Pod luouilifunu 59. Sopiiora. 



1. ROTHIA, Pers. 



Annual diffuse herbs. Leaves digitntelyS-foliolate. Flowers numerous, 

 minute, axillary, solitary or in very short racemes. Calyx-tube turbinate ; 

 calyx-lobes as long as the tube, the two upper broader and arched. 

 Corolla scarcely exserted ; petals nearly equal, narrow, clawed, those 

 of the keel very slightly cohering. Stamens monadelphous, the staminal- 

 tul)e split at the top ; anthers uniform, minute. Ovary sessile, linear ; 

 ovules numerous ; style short, straight, fihform ; stigma capitate. Pod 

 linear, slender, nearly straight, compressed, many-seeded, continuous 

 within, dehiscing by the upper suture. — Distrib. Species 2, of which 

 one is a native of Tropical Asia, the other of India and N. Australia. 



1. Rothia trifoliata, Rrs. Syn. PI. v. 2 (1807) p. 302 & p. G59. 

 A much-branched hairy prostrate herb growing in sandy soil ; stem 

 slightly woody at the base. Leaflets somewhat fleshy, |-g in. long, 

 oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, obtuse or acute, mucronate, clothed 

 with silky hairs ; petioles shorter than tlie leaves ; stipules elliptic- 

 oblong, acute, sometimes slightly falcate, hairy, ^^ in. long ; petiolules 

 very short. Flowers on very short pedicels, solitary or 2-4 together, 

 in very short axillary racemes. Calyx silky-hairy, ^-| in. long ; segments 

 lanceolate, very acute. Corolla yellow, fugacious ; standard clawed, 

 pink. Pods l|-2 in. long, silky, narrow-linear, flattened, straight or 

 nearly so, pointed by the style. Seeds numerous, 20 or more. Fl. B. I. 

 V. 2, p. 63 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 2, p. 7 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 V. II (1897) p. 420; Watt, Diet. Ecou. Prod. v. 6, part 1, p. 569.— 

 Flowers : Aug.-Oct. 



Deccan : Bijapur, l^oodrotvl; Burhanpur (S. M. Railway), Woodrowl; Hotgi, 

 Bhiva ! S. M. Country : Badami, Cooke \, Woodrow ; Belgauin, Ritchie, 1727 ! — 

 Distrib. India and Ceylon in sandy soil, N. Australia. 



2. ARGYROLOBIUM, Eckl. & Zeyh. 



Herbs or shrubs. Leaves digitately 3-foliolate ; stipules free. 

 Flowers in terminal or leaf -opposed racemes or umbels. Calyx 2-llpped, 

 deeply divided ; teeth 5, distinct (in the Indian species), 2 teeth forming 

 the upper, and 3 the lower lip. Corolla scarcely exserted ; standard 

 suborbicular ; wings oblong. Keel-petals broad, joined down the back 

 to the obtuse incurved tip. Stamens monadelphous ; anthers dimorphous. 

 Ovary linear, sessile ; ovules numerous ; style curved gradually upwards ; 

 stigma terminal, often oblique. Pod linear, compressed, silky or villous, 

 continuous within or septate between the seeds, subtorulose. — Distrib, 

 Species 40-50, chiefly South-African, 



1. Argyrolobium roseum, Jauh. 6f Spach. Illustr. v. 1 (1842) 

 p. 116. A small diffuse annual; stems many from the root, reaching 

 6 in. long, very slender, terete, clothed with shorb appressed silky hairs. 



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