530 LEGUMINOSA—PAPILIONACEA. 
Cxsalpiniex and Mimosex are most common in the tropics ; but 
many of the latter are also to be found in Australia. There are 
about 7,000 species in this order. 
Properties and Uses.—The properties and uses of the plants 
of this order are exceedingly variable. Lindley remarks, that 
‘the Leguminous Order is not only among the most extensive 
that are known, but also one of the most important to man, 
whether we consider the beauty of the numerous species, which 
are amongst the gayest-coloured and most graceful plants of 
every region ; or their applicability to a thousand useful pur- 
poses. The Cercis, which renders the gardens of Turkey re- 
splendent with its myriads of purple flowers ; the Acacia, not 
less valued for its airy foliage and elegant blossoms, than for its 
hard and durable wood ; the Braziletto, Logwood, and Rose- 
woods of commerce ; the Laburnum, the classical Cytisus; the 
Furze and the Broom, both the pride of the otherwise dreary 
heaths of Europe ; the Bean, the Pea, the Vetch, the Clover, the 
Trefoil, the Lucerne, all staple articles of culture by the farmer, 
are so many Leguminous species. The gums Arabic and 
Senegal, Kino, Senna, Tragacanth, and various other drugs, not 
to mention Indigo, the most useful of all dyes, are products of 
other species ; and these may be taken as a general indication 
of the purposes to which Leguminous plants may be applied. 
There is this, however, to be borne in mind, in regarding the 
qualities of the order from a general point of view ; viz., that upon 
the whole it must be considered poisonous, and that those 
species which are used for food by man or animals are excep- 
tions to the general rule ; the deleterious juices of the order not 
being in such instances sufficiently concentrated to prove in- 
jurious, and being, in fact, replaced to a considerable extent by 
either sugar or starch.’ In alluding to the properties and uses 
of the more important plants of this order, we shall arrange 
them alphabetically under their respective sub-orders. 
Sub-order 1. PApmLIonNACEX.—In this sub-order we have included a 
number of plants which yield nutritious food for man or other animals, such 
as Peas (Pisum), Broad-beans (Faba), Kidney-beans, Scarlet-runners and 
Haricots (Phaseolus), Lentils (Lens), Pigeon-peas (Cajanus, &c.).» The 
seeds of the above plants, and many others, are commonly known under the 
name of pulse, and do not need any detailed description. ‘lhe tubercular 
roots of Dolichos tuberosus and D. bulbosus, Lathyrus tuberosus, and other 
plants, are eaten in the same way as potatoes. Lucerne and Medick (Medi- 
cago), Melilot (Melilotus), Clover (Trifolium), Tares and Vetches (Ervum, 
Vicia), Sainfoin (Onobrychis), and many others which are common fodder 
plants in different parts of the globe, also belong to this sub-order, and do 
not require any notice in detail. Some plants, or parts of plants, which it 
contains, are, however, poisonous, as the roots of the Scarlet-runner (Phaseolus 
multiflorus), the roots of Phaseolus radiatus, the seeds of Lathyrus Aphaca, 
the seeds, root, and bark of Laburnums ( Cytisus alpinus and C. Laburnum), 
the seeds of Anagyris fetida, the seeds of the Calabar Bean (Physostigma 
venenosum), and also the seeds of the Bitter Vetch (Hrvum Ervilia), the 
juice of Coronilla varia, the leaves of some Gompholobiums, the leaves and 
young branches of Tephrosia toxicaria, the ybark of the root of Piscidia 
Erythrina, and the parts or products of some other pk: 
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