Desmodium.] xlvii. § papilionace^e (baker). 165 



long by about f as broad, the lower half sometimes subcuneate, the 

 upper slightly repand, its petiolule an inch long, the lateral one smaller 

 and unequal sided, texture membranous, upper surface slightly sca- 

 brous, lower finely adpressed-silky on the veins. Racemes long, long- 

 stalked and very lax, principally terminal, often compound below. 

 Lower pedicels often an inch long, the rachis more or less pubescent. 

 Bracts small, linear, deciduous. Calyx 2-3 lines deep, finely hairy, 

 the teeth linear or lanceolate, reaching about halfway down. Corolla 

 reddish, f-J in. deep. Pod distinctly stalked, with 2-4 articulations, 

 which are 3-4 lines long by half as broad, the upper edge straight, 

 the lower suture reaching down nearly to the upper one, the faces 

 naked. — D. trichocaulon, DC. Prod. I.e. Hedysarum repandum, Poir. 

 Enc. vi. 408 an Vahl ? D. strangulatum, Wight et Am. Prod. 228 ; 

 Harv. Fl. Cap. ii. 229. D. cafrum, Eck. et Zey. Hb. 1662. D. Schimperi, 

 Hochst. in Schimp. Hb. Abyss; No. 857 ; A. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 205. 

 D. dbyssinicum, DC. Prod. ii. 338 ? 



Upper Guinea. Cameroon mountains and Fernando Po, Mann! 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimperi Roth! 



Iiower Guinea. Highlands of Huilla and Golungo Alto, Dr. Welwitsch ! 



Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land, Dr. Kirk! 



Also a plant of Natal, the Mascarene isles, East Indies, and Malaya. 



14. D. Dregeanum, Benth. ; Harv. M. Cap. ii. 228. An erect under- 

 shrub 2-3 ft. high, with branches thinly grey-silky upwards. Stipules 

 small, linear, scarious. Petioles \ in. long, firm, slender ; leaflets 3, 

 obovate, central one half an inch long by about half as broad, apex 

 rounded, subcoriaceous, both sides thinly adpressed grey-silky. Flowers 

 in a short terminal panicle. Bracts ovate, acuminate, scarious. Pedi- 

 cels equalling the calyx, which is 2 lines deep, densely silky, the teeth 

 linear-setaceous, reaching down nearly to the base. Pod sessile, §— £ 

 in. long, J in. broad, the lower suture waved a quarter of the way down, 

 articulations 3 or 4, finally glabrous. — Nicolsania caffra, E. Meyer, Comm. 

 PI. Afr. Austr. 124. 



Nile Land. Nubia f Kotschy, PI JEthiop. Exsicc. 556. 



A Cape species, and very near to, perhaps identical with, the East Indian D. Grif- 

 fithianum. 



15. D. polycarpum, DC. Prod. ii. 334. An undershrub procum- 

 bent at the base and often rooting at the joints with ascending robust 

 almost woody branches, thinly silky upwards. Stipules ovate cuspidate, 

 scarious, deciduous. Petiole 1 in. or rather more long, erecto-patent, 

 thinly silky; leaflets 3, the terminal one obovate, 1J-2 in. long, by 

 more than half as broad, the apex rounded, retuse or mucronate, the 

 lateral ones smaller and rather narrower in proportion, texture sub- 

 coriaceous, upper surface green and glabrous, the lower glaucous, the 

 veins slightly raised. Flowers crowded in dense nearly sessile axillary 

 and terminal racemes. Bracts ovate or lanceolate acuminate, slightly 

 ciliated, deciduous. Pedicels fflabrous, a line long, equalling the 

 glabrous campanulate calyx, the teeth reaching halfway down, not 



