74 



very prominent beneath, plainly visible above. Stipules lanceolate, red-brown, 

 3 lines long. Inflorescence in short axillary and terminal racemes, 

 Peduncles much longer than leaves, pilose with reflexed white hairs, floriferous in 

 upper third, flowers crowded, strongly deflexed. Calyx 5-fid, lobes acute, a little 

 shorter than tube, the whole 1 to 1-| lines long, minutely pubescent, pedicels very 

 short. Bracts lanceolate, equalling calyx. Corolla papilionaceous, petals sub-equal 

 in length, 2 to 3 times longer than calyx ; vexillum oblong with two inflexed 

 auricles and a fleshy ring at base ; alae narrow ; carina obtuse, a little incurved. 

 Stamens 10, diadelphous, 9-1. Style 1, glabrous, curved, stigma small, capitate, 

 very densely pilose with white silky hairs. Legume strongly compressed, 4-6 

 lines long, 3 lines wide, obliquely oblong, hirsute, dark brown, 2-seeded. 



Habitat : NATAL : Coast and midland districts. Inanda, February, J. M. 

 Wood, No. 851 ; near Durban, Wood, October. 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, April, 1899. 



The genus Eriosema contains upwards of 40 species, widely dispersed in tro- 

 pical and subtropical regions. In Natal we have at least 6 species, none of which 

 so far as we are aware have any economic value. 



Fig. 1, Stem with leaves ; flowers and legumes, natural size ; 2, Flower, side 

 view; 3, Calyx and staminal tube, petals removed; 4, Corolla A, vexillum, B, B, 

 alae, c, carina ; 5, Calyx and young ovary ; 6, Staminal tube opened ; 7, Stamen ; 

 all enlarged ; 8, Legume about natural size. 



PLATE 92. 



CROTALARIA CAPENSIS, Jacq. 

 Natural Order, LEGUMINOSJ:. 



A much branched undershrub, 3-8 feet high. Stems and branches terete, 

 pubescent, and with rough bark. Leaves alternate, petiolate, trifoliolate, stipulate, 

 or stipules wanting ; leaflets differing in shape from ovate to oblong, quite entire, 

 obtuse and mucronulate at apex, tapering at base ; terminal one f-2 inches long, 

 -|-f inch broad, lateral ones ^-1 inch long, f-i inch wide; pubescent on both sur- 

 faces, veins prominent beneath. Petiolules very short and a little swollen. Com- 

 mon petiole J-l| inches long, with a glandular swelling beneath at junction of 

 secondary petioles, which are scarcely 1 line long. Stipules when present leaf-like, 

 broadly ovate or obovate, entire, emarginate, stalked, reaching to i inch or more 

 long, and pubescent like the leaves. Inflorescence in axillary or terminal many 

 flowered racemes, which are much longer than the leaves, finally reaching to 6 

 inches or more in length, and then pendulous. Calyx gamosepalous, 6-7 lines long, 

 widely spreading, lobes 5, sub-biliabate, upper lip 2-cleft, lower 3-cleft, all 

 acuminate, externally minutely pubescent, green or purplish at base, limb a little 

 longer than the tube. Bracts small, subulate. Corolla papilionaceous, vexilhim 

 ample, 1-1J inches long, f-i inch wide, ovate, acute at apex, clawed at base, 

 central vein prominent beneath, and thickened, lateral ones fine and close, with 

 two hard prominent ridges on the claw which completely and firmly close the 

 orifice at base of the staminal tube ; the claw minutely tomentose at each side ; 

 alae oblong, clawed, the claw twisted, with numerous veins, and minutely pitted 

 between them externally; 7-8 lines long; carina strongly falcate, longer than alae, 

 acuminate. Stamens 10, monadelphous, the tube having a large opening at base, 



