64- XLVII. § PAPIL10NACE2E (BAKER). [LotUS. 



copious, sessile, solitary, axillary. Calyx I in. long, shaggy, the lan- 

 ceolate teeth reaching more than three-quarters of the way down to 

 the base.. Corolla reddish, equalling the calyx, anthers not quite 

 uniform. Pod f in. long, under a line thick, straight, linear, glabrous, 

 about 6-seeded. — Ononis Aucheri, Jaub. et Spach. Illust. i. 96. 



Nile Land. Banks of the White Nile, Kotschy I 



A desert species, extending eastward to Scinde, with the habit of an Ononis, and re- 

 ceding from the typical Loti by its anthers, which are alternately fastened quite at the 

 base, and slightly versatile. 



16. PSORALEA. Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 491. 



Calyx-teeth in our plant subequal. Petals equal or the keel shorter ; 

 standard ovate or orbicular, unguiculate; wings oblong subfalcate; 

 keel incurved, obtuse. Upper stamen free or more or less connate, the 

 tube in an early stage often closed ; anthers small, uniform or the 

 alternate ones slightly different. Ovary sessile or short-stalked, 

 1 -ovulate; style filiform, or dilated at the base, upcurved; stigma ter- 

 minal. Pod ovate or oblong indehiscent, the pericarp adhering to the 

 see d. — Herbs or undershrubs with glandulose-punctate leaves and 1, 

 3, or many pinnate leaflets, the flowers in heads or spikes or racemes, 

 rarely solitary. 



A large genus, principally Cape, South American, and Australian. 

 Leaves pinriately trifoliolate, flowers in axillary racemes. 



A low spiny shrub 1. P.plicata. _ 



An unarmed prostrate herb 2. P. obtusifolia^ 



Leaves simple ; flowers in dense stalked terminal heads .... 3. P. andongensis. 



1. P. plicata, Del.; DC. Prod. ii. 221. A low shrub with striated 

 g-labrous woody stems, copious erecto-patent rigid branches and spiny 

 tranchlets. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate, the petioles j— f in. long, 

 terminal leaflet J-§ in. long, half as. broad, oblong, deeply crenate, 

 lateral ones smaller, firm, both sides coated with fine silvery pubes- 

 cence. Flowers in copious short-stalked axillary racemes of 6-12 

 flowers each. Pedicels very short. Calyx tubular, 1J-2 lines long, 

 10-nerved, silvery, the teeth deltoid, not reaching a quarter of the way 

 down, the lower one rather narrower and deeper, the tube dilated when 

 the fruit is produced. Corolla cream-coloured, scarcely exceeding the 

 calyx. Pod villose, ultimately black, equalling the calyx. 



North Central. Banks of Lake Tschad, E. Vogel! 



Nile Land. Banks of the Nile in Nubia, Kotschy! Ehreriberg, Bromfield! and 

 gathered also by Spehe and Grant! 



2. P. obtusifolia, DC. Prod. ii. 221 A finely-silky copiously- 

 branched prostrate perennial herb with stems 1-2 ft. long. Petioles 

 spreading, 6-10 lines. Leaflets 3, obovate-cuneate, rather fleshy, 

 blunt, crenato-repand, both sides green, finely grey-silky, the central 

 one distinctly stalked, obscurely punctate, 6-9 lines long. Flowers 4-6 

 in copious short-stalked dense axillary spikes. Calyx 1J lines lon^, 

 densely white-silky, the lanceolate teeth shorter than the tube. Corolla 

 bright yellow, slightly exceeding the calyx. Pod sessile, ovate- 



