Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. 135 



Pods coriaceous, quite glabrous ... ... 15. D. auricnlatnm. 



Pods indistiactly jointed, not separating into segments 

 but dehiscing in a continuous line along the ventral 

 suture (6. Pletirolohium) ... ... ... 16. D. gyroides. 



SuBGEN. 1. Sagotia Walp. Trailing herbs, with small 3-foliolate 

 stipellate leaves. Flowers in sparse lax racemes or 1-2 in the axils of 

 the leaves ; bracts deciduous and pods distinctly jointed. 



1. Desmodium triflorum DC. Prodr. II, 3:34. A small trailing 

 herb with very slender diffusely branching stems 6-18 in. long; 

 branches sparsely hirsute with fine spreading hairs. Leaves '5 in. long, 

 3-folioIate ; petiole '2 in, long ; leaflets membranous obovate-cuneate, 

 apex truncate or emarginate, terminal '2d in. long '2 in across, lateral 

 •2 in. long -15 in. acioss, glabrous above sparsely adpressed-hirsute 

 beneath ; stipels minute subulate, stipules persistent lanceolate "15 in. 

 long. Inflorescence of 1-3- fld. axillary fascicles ; pedicels '25 in., brac- 

 teoles minute. Calyx pubescent with longish white hairs 'I-'IS in. 

 long ; teeth setaceous longer than narrowly campanulate tube. Corolla 

 pink or occasionally white '2 in. long. Fod •4-'6 in. long, -15 in. wide ; 

 joints 3-5, reticulately veined and finely puberulous ; upper suture 

 straight, lower distinctly indented between the joints. Wall. Cat. 5734 

 (except part of F. ) ; Benth. in Mart. Flor. Bras. XV, 95, t. 26; Miq. 

 Flor. Ind. Bat. I, 23ri ; Bak. in Flor. B.it. Ind. II, 173. D. triflorum 

 VAii. minus W & A. Prodr. 229 ; Wight Ic. t. 292. B. heterophylla^n 

 Wall. Cat. 5701 C. Hedysarum triflorum Linn. Sp. PI. 749 ; Roxb. Hort. 

 Beng. 57 ; Flor. Ind. Ill, 353. H. stipulaceum Buim. Flor. Ind. t. 54, f. 

 2. Nicholsonia reptans Meissn. in Linnaea XXI, 260. Sagotia triflora 

 Walp. & Imch. in Linnaea XXII 1, 738. 



Andamans; Port Blair, Kurz ! Prain ! Great Coco Island (specns. 

 all white-fld.) Prain! Malacca; Maingay 522 ! Prov. Wellesley ; Eiyig ! 

 Pexang ; Wallich 5734 I ! Distrib. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. 



An extremely common species in India, not so common in Indo-China ; very 

 rare, perhaps only a recently introduced weed, in jMalaya. 



2. Desmodidm heterophyllum DC. Prodr. II, 334. A trailino* 

 herb with slender diffusely branching stems 2-2'5 feet long ; branches 

 densely hirsute with spreading hairs. Leaves 1-1 "5 in. long, 3-foliolate, 

 petiole "5 in. long; leaflets membranous oblong or obovate-oblong apex 

 rounded or subacute, terminal 5-1 in. long, •3-*5 in. wide, lateral 

 similar •25-'5 in. long *2-'2c in. wide, glabrous above, hairy beneath ; 

 stipels minute subulate, stipules persistent lanceolate 'lo in. long. In- 

 florescence of solitary or geminate axillary flowers and, towards ends of 

 branches, of a few axillary lax few-fld. racemes ; pedicels •5-'8 in. lono-, 

 sparsely pubescent with rusty spreading hairs ; bracts 2 in. long, ovate- 

 lanceolate, deciduous, bracteoles minute. Calyx '15 in. densely hirsute, 



135 



