Pseudarthria.] xlvii. § papilionace^e (baker). 167 



44. PSEUDARTHRIA, Wight et Am. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen 



Plant, i. 521. 



Calyx campanulate, the teeth linear, subequal, the two upper more 

 or less connate. Standard suborbicular, wings free, oblono-- keel 

 obtuse. Stamens diadelphous, the upper one free ; anthers uniform. 

 Ovary shortly-stalked, multiovulate ; style inflexed, subulate ; stigma 

 terminal. Pod linear, compressed, inarticulate, continuous within 

 shortly stalked, usually many-seeded. — Undershrubs, differing- from 

 Desmodium only in the pod. 



Five species are known, one East Indian, and another reaching Natal. 



Racemes lax ; pod 1-3-seeded 1. P.faqifolia. 



Racemes dense ; pod many-seeded. 



Leaves glabrescent beneath 2. P. confertifiora. 



Leaves densely persistently pubescent beneath. 



Pod 2-24 lines broad, 5-6-seeded 3. P. macrophylla. 



Pod \ in. broad, 6-10-seeded 4. P. Hooktri. 



1. P. fagifolia, Baker. An erect undershrub 3 or 4 ft. high, the 

 branches ascending, firm-herbaceous, sulcate, finely grey- silky up- 

 wards. Stipules 3-4 lines long, lanceolate, scarious. Lower petioles 

 3 in. long, firm, silky ; leaflets 3, terminal one oblong- obovate, 3-5 

 in. long by more than half as broad, repand, base subcuneate, the 

 petiolule more than an inch long, the lateral ones smaller and unequal- 

 sided, subcoriaceous, upper surface slightly scabrous, lower densely 

 adpressed grey-silky all over. Racemes long, narrow, lax, axillary 

 and terminal, the latter compound. Bracts linear, about equalling the 

 erecto-patent pedicels. Calyx J in. deep, silky, the teeth linear, reach- 

 ing about halfway down. Corolla reddish, twice as long as the calyx. 

 Pod 3-4 lines long, 2 lines broad, oblong, acuminate, downy, 2-3- 

 seeded, narrowed to a distinct stalk. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelim ! Guinea, Yomba, Barter I 



2. P. confertifiora, Baker. An erect undershrub 2-3 ft. high, with 

 firm sulcate finely grey-pubescent branches. Stipules lanceolate, 

 scarious, 3-4 lines long*. Petioles an inch long, grey-pubescent; 

 leaflets 3, ovate-oblong or obovate, terminal ones 3-4 in. long by 

 about half as broad, slightly repand, lateral ones rather unequal- sided, 

 coriaceous, upper surface green, subscabrous, lower glaucous, silky 

 only on the veins. Flowers in dense axillary and terminal racemes, 

 the latter often compound. Bracts 3 lines long, linear, thinly silky 

 on the back, deciduous. Pedicels J in. long, about equalling the cam- 

 panulate calyx, which is slightly silky, with linear subequal teeth 

 reaching halfway down. Corolla twice as long as the calyx. Ovary 

 pubescent, stalked, 5-6-ovulate. Ripe pod not seen. — Rhyyichosia con- 

 fertifiora, A. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 231. Anarthrosyne gracilis , Klotzsch in 



Peters' Mossamb. Bot. i. 40. 



Nile Land. Banks of White Nile, Knoblecher fide Kotschy. Abyssinia, 

 Schimper I 



