105- LEGUMINOSAE 261 



138. (131.) Petals, at least the lower, adnatc below to the staminal tube 

 Standard oblong or ovate. Erect or prostrate herbs. Leaves pinnate 

 or palmate ; leaflets 3 — 5, usually toothed. Stipules adnate to the 

 leafstalk. Flowers solitary or in umbels, heads, or spikes. — Species 70. 

 North and South Africa and mountains of Central Africa. Many of 

 them are used as fodder or in medicine. " Clover " . Trifolium L. 

 Petals free from the staminal tube. Leaflets entire, rarely toothed, but 

 then more than 5. Stipules usually free or wanting 139 



13g. Leaves unifoliolate, stipellate ; stalk winged. Flo\\'ers in spikes. Calyx- 

 lobes unequal. Uppermost stamen free at the base, but united with 

 the others in the middle. Ovary sessile. Ovules 3 — 4. — Species 4. 

 Central Africa. (Under Deswodium Desv.) Droogmansia De Wild. 

 Leaves pinnate, digitate, or reduced to the usually broadened stalk . 140 



140. Leaves equally pinnate or reduced to the stalk. Leaflets entire. Stipules 

 leaf-like. Flowers solitary or in racemes. Ovary more or less dis- 

 tinctly stalked. Style-apex broadened and bearded. Fruit 2-valved. 

 Seeds with an outgrowth near the hilum. Herbs or undershrubs. . 141 

 Leaves unequally pinnate or digitate. Ovary sessile or nearly so . 142 



T41. Style-apex laterally compressed with reflexed edges, hence grooved 

 above. Corolla white or red ; wings adhering to the keel. Herbs with 

 tendrils. Leaflets 2 — 6. — Species 3. North Africa, also cultivated 

 in the tropics. They 3äeld fodder and edible seeds (peas), from which 



also starch is prepared Pisum L. 



Style-apex compressed dorsally, with the edges bent downwards or 

 straight. (See 128.) Lathyrus L. 



14:^. Stem woody throughout. Leaves unequally pinnate. Flowers in 

 racemes or fascicles. Upper calyx-teeth united lor the greatest part. 

 Corolla red or violet ; wings slightly adhering to the keel ; standard 

 with a callus at the base. Fruit linear, flat. — Species 15. Tropical 

 and South-east Africa. The seeds of some species are used as a fish- 

 poison Mundulea DC. 



Stem herbaceous or woody at the base only 143 



143. Flowers in racemes. Calyx-teeth unequal. Corolla blue ; standard 



suborbicular, with a callus and two auricles ; keel somewhat longer 

 than the wings and the standard. LTppermost stamen cohering with 

 the others at the base. Style-apex bearded. Ovules 2. Twining under- 

 shrubs. — Species i. Equatorial East Africa (Kilimandjaro). 



Spathionema Taub. 

 Flowers solitary or in umbels or heads 144 



144. Leaflets toothed. Stipules leaf-like. Flowers solitary. Corolla white 



or blue. Fruit ovate to oblong, turgid, 2-valved. — Species 2. North 

 Africa and Abj^ssinia ; one species also cultivated in Angola. They 

 yield edible seeds (chick-peas) and are used medicinally. Cicer L. 

 Leaflets entire. Flowers in umbels or heads, rarely solitary, but then 

 corolla yellow I45 



