Microcharis.] xlvii. § papilionace^e (baker). 133 



the outer side. Leaves subsessile, subcoriaceous, the lower ones obovate- 

 oblong, 2 in. long, 1 in. broad. Racemes about 6-flowered, either 

 truly axillary on short peduncles or terminal on short branches from 

 the axils of the leaves. Calyx under J line, copiously hispid. Corolla 

 | inch. Pod not seen. 



Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land, on the riverbank near Luabo, Dr. Kirk! 



25. SESBANIA, Pers. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 502. 



Calyx broadly campanulate, with short eubequal teeth. Petals all 

 distinctly unguiculate ; standard large, emarginate orbicular ; wings 

 oblong; keel incurved, obtuse. Stamens diadelphous ; anthers uni- 

 form or nearly so. Ovary sessile or short- stalked, multiovulate 

 style glabrous, incurved; stigma capitate. Pod linear, compressed, 

 or terete or tetragonous or 4-winged, usually dehiscing. — Herbs or 

 soft-wood shrubs of brief duration with very numerous leaflets and 

 flowers in axillary racemes. 



A small genus dispersed through the Tropics of both hemispheres, many of the 

 species very closely allied and difficult to define. 



Subgenus 1. Eusesbania. — Pod not winged. 

 Valves of the pod rounded on the back. 

 Corolla 8-9 lines long. 



Shrubby, with peduncled lax racemes 1. S. punctata. 



Annual, with subsessile abbreviated racemes 2. S. pachycarpa. 



Corolla 6-7 lines long. 



Branches finely downy ; lower pedicels 6-9 lines long . . 3. S. cinerascens. 

 Branches glabrous ; lower pedicels 2-4 lines long. 



Shrubby, unarmed 4. S. cegyptiaca. 



Annual, with prickly branches and leaf-rachis . . . b. S. aculeata. 

 Corolla 4-5 lines long. 



Branches and young leaves densely grey-silky . . . . 6. S. pubescens. 



Branches and young leaves glabrous 7. S. leptocarpa. 



Valves of the pod acutely keeled on the back 8. JS. sphcerosperma. 



Subgenus 2. Daubentonia. — Pod with 4 broad wings . '. . 9. S. tetraptera. 



1. S. punctata, DC. Prod. ii. 265. An erect, copiously branched 

 glabrous glaucous shrub 5-10 ft. high. Petioles 6-9 lines, sometimes 

 slightly prickly, upper leaves 3-8 in. long ; leaflets 20-50-jugate, just 

 like those of 8. cegyptiaca. Peduncles 12—18 lines. Racemes lax, 6—12- 

 flowered, casually compound. Lower pedicels 6-9 lines. Calyx 2 lines, 

 broadly campanulate, glabrous, the deltoid cuspidate teeth a quarter the 

 length of the tube. Corolla 8-9 lines long, the standard 8-9 lines 

 broad, bright yellow, much spotted with purple. Pod 8-12 in. long, 

 3-2J lines thick, 30-40-seeded, not torulose when mature, the valves 

 rounded on the back. — S. filif'ormis, Hochst. in Schimp. Hb. Abyss. No. 

 775. S. multijuga, Schweinf. Hb. Callab. Exsicc. No. 1869. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Leprieur I Heudelot ! Guinea proper, Barter ! 



North Central. Bornu and Soudan, E. Vogel 1 



Nile Land. Nubia, Kordofan, and Sennaar, Knobkcher, &c. Abyssinia, 

 JSchimperl &c. 



