LEGUMINOSAE ROBINIA 



561 



A farmer in Dallas County, this state, informs me that sometimes the leaves 

 are macerated in water and used to kill flies. 



A case of poisoning to a horse was recorded in Breeders' Gazette in 1909. In 

 this case the horse had eaten some of the bark of a tree. The symptoms were 

 similar to those recorded by Dr. Waldron. 



15. Sesbania. Scop. Sesban 



Tall, smooth, branching herbs or shrubs with pinnate leaves and yellow 

 flowers in axillary or compound racemes ; calyx bell-shaped, obliquely truncate, 

 5-toothed; standard short, orbicular; wings oblong; keel blunt; stamens diadel- 

 phous ; style short, incurved at the apex ; legume oblong, stalked, compressed, 

 the endocarp membranaceous, at length separating from the coriaceous epicarp 

 and enclosing 2 seeds. A small genus of 15 species of warm or temperate 

 regions. 



Sesbania platycarpa Pers. 



A tall, smooth, branching annual vine ; leaflets 10-35 pairs, mucronate, 

 pale beneath ; racemes shorter than the leaves ; corolla yellowish purple spotted, 

 with membranaceous sacked pods. 



Distribution. From the Carolinas to Florida, Missouri, and Texas. 



Poisonous nature. In 1897, Dr. A. P. Anderson sent this to the writer with 

 a letter from some stockmen from South Carolina, who stated that it was sus- 

 pected of poisoning his cattle. Mr. Chesnut records a similar statement as fol- 

 lows: 



In 1897, the United States Department of Agriculture received from South Carolina 

 the seeds of this plant, which were found in the stomachs of cows. 



Fig. 309. Sesban (Sesbania platycarpa). This 

 plant is common in the southern states; found 

 along roadsides and woods; known to be poison- 

 ous. (Charlotte M. King.) 



