French National Injliiule. gi 



plete or incomplete. Tonrncfort has given a fe&ion of them 

 in his family of the papilionacei. Linnaeus has eftablifhed 

 them into three genera: the bijfeml., chara&erifed by its 

 indented feed ; the phaca, the feed of which ought to be 

 femi-bilocular ; and the ajlragalus, where the feed is bilo- 

 cular ; but thefe two laft genera are not fufficiently diftincl: ; 

 for that reafon Lamark united them. Decandolle has re- 

 tained that arrangement, but he has changed the charac- 

 ters and rendered them more dimncl. 



The genus of the phaca has for its character a carina, fur- 

 nifhed with a long ftraight point ; a feed with two longitu- 

 dinal cells, fometimes complete, but for the moft part in- 

 complete, formed by the folding back of the upper future. 

 This genus comprehends twenty fpecies, viz. phaca feb'irica\ 

 LlNN.; ph.myrhphylla, mur'icata,fylvatica, oxyphylla, pro- 

 Jlrata, Pall.; ajlragalu verticellar'is, alpinus montanus, cam- 

 pejlris,pihfus ) Linn.; ajir.fcelidus, Vill. ; ajlr. dejiexuSj 

 Pall.; ajlr. annularis, Forsk.; and fevenundefcribed fpecies. 

 The phaca alp'ina, aujlralis btetica and rigida, are referred 

 to the colutea. The genus ajlragalus is diftinguiihed from 

 the preceding by its obtufe carina, and its feed with two lon- 

 gitudinal cells, fometimes complete, or for the moft part in- 

 complete, formed by the repli of the lower future. It compre- 

 hends 125 fpecies, 36 of which are nondefcript. This vaft 

 genus had been divided into three fe&ions, according as the 

 ftalk was herbaceous, ligneous, or null ; but thefe divifion3 

 are not correct. Decandolle has divided the genus into two 

 fe£tions, according as the ftipulae are diftinCt. from the pe- 

 tiole, or adherent to it. The firff fection comprehends the 

 fpecies with yellow or purpurine flowers. The feoond is di- 

 vided into three fubdivifions ; the firft has the ftipulae ad- 

 heient to the petiole and the ftalk, and the petiole herba- 

 ceous and not fpinous ; the lecond has the petiole not 

 fpinous and caduque ; the third has the petiole fpinous 

 perfijlant, and the folioks caducous. Thefe are the tra- 

 gacantha of which the old botanifts made a genus; but 

 the fructification prcfcnt3 no character, and exhibits the 

 fame variations as thofc of the other aftraguli. 



The phaca, ajlraguli, baguenaudiers, and fevcral other 

 N % genera 



