190 xlvii. § papilionace^ (baker). [Canavalia. 



inflexed auricles; wings narrow, free, falcate or subtwisted; keel 

 broader than the wing's in our species obtuse. Upper stamen free 

 below, connate at the centre ; anthers uniform. Ovary substipitate, 

 multiovulate ; style incurved ; stigma small, terminal. Pod linear- 

 oblong", compressed or subturgid, with a wing or rib on both sides near 

 the upper suture, 2-valved, slightly septate between the seeds. — Climb- 

 ing herbs. 



A small genus, widely spread through the Tropics. 



Biennial, the upper lip of the calyx a quarter as long as the tube . 1. C. obtusifolia. 

 Perennial, the upper lip of the calyx a third as long as the tube . . 2. C. ensiformis. 



1. C. obtusifolia, DC. Prod. ii. 404. Stem biennial, climbing or 

 sometimes prostrate amongst the sands of the seashore, slightly pubes- 

 cent when young. Stipules small, deciduous. Petioles 2-3 in. long, 

 firm, glabrous ; leaflets 3, central one roundish or broad-obovate, 3-4 

 in. long and nearly as broad, apex rounded* often emarginate, petiolule 

 1-1J in. long, lateral ones similar, often unequal-sided, shortly petio- 

 lulate, both sides glabrous. Flowers in lax 6-12-flowered racemes on 

 long flexuose glabrous peduncles. Pedicels stout, 2-3 lines long, 

 springing from fleshy tubercles. Calyx broad-campanulate, glabrous, 

 \ in. deep, the upper lip projecting | in. beyond the lower one, rounded, 

 bifid, the lower with three small deltoid teeth. Corolla purplish, fra- 



frant, three times as long as the calyx, the standard f-1 in. broad, 

 'od 4-6 in. long, an inch broad, 6-8-seeded, glabrous when mature, 

 with two prominent ribs a line distant from the upper suture. Seeds 

 chestnut-brown, opaque, compressed, J-f in. long. — Guill. et Perr. Fl. 

 Seneg. 223. Harv. Fl. Cap. ii. 238. Mart. Leg. Bras. t. 48. D. ob- 

 ovatus, Schum. et Thonn. PI. Guin. 341. D. ovalifolius, S. et T. I.e. 1 

 C. emarginata, G. Don, Gard. Diet. ii. 362. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius! Senegambia, Leprieur and Perrottet! 

 Guinea proper, Thonniny, Barter ! Mylne ! 



Lower Guinea. Congo and Loanda, Dr. Welwitsch ! 



Mozamb. Distr. Mozambique, Peters. Zambc si land, Dr. Kirk! 



Widely dispersed through the Tropics of both hemispheres and often cultivated. It 

 is a plant of Natal. 



"2. C. ensiformis, DC. Prod. ii. 404. Stems perennial, wide- 

 climbing, subglabrous. Stipules minute, deciduous. Petiole 2-6 in. ; 

 leaflets 3; central one ovate or oblong, 3-6 in. long; lateral ones 

 smaller, unequal-sided, membranous, glabrescent. Flowers numerous, 

 in moderately dense racemes on flexuose peduncles half a foot or mere 

 long. Calyx J in. deep, the bifid upper lip a third as long as the tube. 

 Corolla pinkish or white, fragrant, twice the calyx or more. Pod 

 short-stalked, 4-8 or even 12 in. long, 15-18 lines broad, glabrescent, 

 the prominent ribs l£-2 lines from the upper suture. — C. gladiata, DC. 

 loc. cit. C. polystachya, Schweinf. Rel. Kots. 25, t. 20. Dolichos Cten- 

 kowskii, Schweinf. et Asch. Enum. 256. 



Upper Guinea. Senegal, Perrottet I Sierra Leone, Afzelius I Niger country, 

 Barter/ 



