380 THE LEGUMINOK^ PULSE FAMILY. 



CHAPTER XV. 

 THE LEGUMINOS^E. PULSE FAMILY. 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, usually compound' 

 and stipulate. Flowers irregular or regular. Calyx mostly 5- 

 lobed with one lobe next to the bract. Corolla irregular and im- 

 bricate (often papilionaceous), or regular and valvate, rarely o.. 

 One petal next to the axis. Stamens usually 10, rarely 5 or 

 many, monadelphous, diadelphous or distinct, mostly perigynous. 

 Pistil with a 1-celled carpel becoming a legume or an indehiscent 

 fruit, sometimes jointed. Embryo usually destitute of endo- 

 sperm. 



This vast family contains, at the lowest estimate, 6,500 species, 

 and is excelled in numbers by only one other, viz : the Com- 

 positae, which includes asters, golden rods, sunflowers, dande- 

 lions. Plants of the pulse family are widely distributed in every 

 climate and in all kinds of soil. They vary in size from the lit- 

 tle pussy clover to the giant locust trees of Brazil. We compre- 

 hend only a small portion of their uses and wealth when notic- 

 ing those species which are cultivated or wild in the United 

 States. Red, white, mammoth and Alsike clovers, lucerne or 

 alfalfa and sainfoin fill a place which could not well be supplied 

 in our pastures and meadows, while peas and beans are scarcely 

 of more importance than the peanut which would be missed in 

 our groceries and on the corners of the streets, as well as by the 

 people of Africa and the tropical islands. 



The pulse family is the most wonderful of all the families of 

 plants in the enormous number and variety of its useful products. 

 Its wealth is fairly bewildering. It contains barks of great use 

 for tanning, many delicious perfumes, valuable medicines, tough 

 fibers useful for cords, ropes or coarse cloth. It abounds in du- 



