XLTIII. LEGUMINOS.i:. 329 



glabrous standard. Pods 6-9 in. long, not twisted, slightly falcate, 

 beaked, not torulose. Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 114 ; Grab. Cat. p. 48 ; Dalz. & 

 Gibs. p. 62 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 2, p. 34 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 V. 11 (1897) p. 422 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 2, p. 542.— 

 Flowers : Sept.-Oct. Vebn. lidaa-sevari : Chuncha. 



Very common in wet places throii^bowt the Konkan and the Deccan. — Distrib. 

 Cosmopolitan in the Tropics of the Old World. 



3. Sesbania procumbens, Wight 4' ^>"'^- P''odr. (1834) p. 21-5. 

 Annual, diffuse, more or less armed with inoffensive prickles ; branches 

 glabrous, subterete, striate. Leaves l^-^l in. long; petioles g-| in. 

 long ; stipules g in. long, membranous, very acute from a triangular 

 base. Leaflets 15-20 pairs, linear-oblong, I by ^L in., obtuse, apiculate, 

 glabrous, base rounded ; petiolules about J^ in. long. Flowers in short 

 2-4-flowered racemes. Calyx xV~8 ^^* ^°"S' iTieuabrauous, glabrous ; 

 teeth short, deltoid. Corolla \-^ in. long. Pods straight, erect, 2-3| in. 

 long, not twisted, beaked, torulose. Seeds 12-20. Fl. B. I. v. 2, 

 p. 115; Grab. Cat. p. 48; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 62. ^"Escliynomene ^n-o- 

 cumhens, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. v. 3, p. 337. 



Abundant in rice-fields in Bombay during the rains, Dal::ell i|' Gibson ; eaten by 

 cattle, Graham. — Distrib. India (W. Peninsula). 



Sesbania grandijlora, Pers. Syn. v. 2 (1807) p. 316, a soft-wooded tree 

 reaching 20-30 ft. high, with large white or red flowers, is often grown 

 about temples and villages, but is nowhere indigenous. Its flowers are 

 2-3 inches long and very showy. Pods often reach a foot long. Fl. B. I. 

 V. 2, p. 115 : Woodr. iii Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) p. 422. Aqati 

 grandijlora, Desv. Journ. Bot. v. 1 (1813) p. 120 ; Grab. Cat. p. 48 ; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. Suppl. p. 22 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 2, 

 p. 544. — Flowers at various times. Veen. Agastd ; Iladgci. 



The tender leaves, flowers and pods are eaten. Certain parts of the tree have 

 repute in native medicine. See Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. c. 



17. ASTRAGALUS, Linn. 



Herbs or undershrubs. Leaves pinnate, the rhachis terminating either 

 in a leaflet or a spine ; stipules free or adnate to the petiole or united 

 into one leaf-opposed one. Calyx tubular or companulate; teeth 5, 

 subequal. Petals usually with rather long claws ; standard erect, ovate- 

 obloug or panduriform ; wings oblong ; keel equalling the wings or a 

 little shorter, obtuse. Stamens diadelphous ; anthers uniform. Ovary 

 sessile or stalked, many-ovulate ; style filiform, straight or incurved, not 

 beai'ded; stigma small, terminal. Pod linear or oblong, usually turgid, 

 continuous within or more or less completely longitudinally 2-celled from 

 the introversion of the inferior suture. Seeds usually reniform. — 

 DiSTiiiB. Chiefly throughout the IS", temperate zone; species 1100-1200. 



Leaves iniparipinnate. 



Pod straight 1. A. proli.vus. 



Pod contoituplicate 2. A. conto7-tuplicatus. 



Leaves abruptly pinnate '6. A. Stocksii. 



1. Astragalus prolixus, Sieh. PI. ^Egiipt. exsicc. ex Bunge, Monogr. 

 Asir. (1868-69) part 1, p. 9; part 2, p. 6. S:ems ca;spitose, 3-12 in. 



