Canavalia.] xlvii. § papilionace^e (baker). 191 



Nile Land. Sennaar and Abyssinia, Schweinfurth ! Chopeh (628), Speke and 

 Grant ! 



Lower Guinea. Loanda, Golongo Alto and Pungo Andongo, Dr. Welwitschl 



Var. p a mollis, Wall. Cat. No. 5523. 



Stems, petioles, and leaves densely pubescent, the latter smaller and thicker in tex- 

 ture than in the type. 



Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi land, Dr. Kirk ! 



Like the preceding widely dispersed through the tropics of both hemispheres, and 

 often cultivated. 



62. PHYSOSTIGMA, Balfour ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. 



i. 538. 



Calyx with very short teeth, the two upper ones subconnate. Stan- 

 dard suborbicular, recurved, emarginate, appendiculate at the base with 

 inflexed auricles ; wings obovate-oblong, incurved, free ; keel obovate, 

 with a spirally twisted beak. Upper stamen free, appendiculate near- 

 the base ; anthers uniform. Ovary stalked, 2-3-ovulate ; style thickened 

 within the beak of the keel and twisted with it ; stigma oblique, covered 

 by a hood. Pod linear- oblong*, convex, 2-valved, thinly septate be- 

 tween the seeds. 



A single species, restricted to West Tropical Africa. 



1. P. venenosum, Balfour in Trans. Roy. Soc. Edirib. xxii. 310, 

 t. 16-17. Stem shrubby below, the branches glabrous, slender, climb- 

 ing to a length of fifty feet. Stipules minute, deciduous. Petioles 

 2-3 in. long, glabrous ; leaflets 3, central one broad-ovate, 4-5 in. 

 long, 3-4 in. broad, cuspidate, the base rounded or cordate, petiolule 

 an inch long, lateral ones smaller, unequal-sided, both sides glabrous. 

 Flowers in short-stalked lax drooping racemes 3-4 in. long. Pedicels 

 short, glabrous, springing 2-3 together from fleshy tubercles as in 

 Canavalia. Calyx 3-4 lines deep, glabrous, the teeth subdeltoid, not 

 so deep as broad, short-ciliated. Flowers pale pink, beautifully veined, 

 the folded standard enveloping the rest of the flower and curved round 

 so that it comes near the side of the calyx, the spire j in. broad, con- 

 siderably exceeding the wings and keel. Pod 5-7 in. long, 1^-1 f in. 

 thick, the valves horny, glabrous, narrowed at both ends. Seeds 2-3, 

 ovoid-oblong, polished chestnut-brown, \\ in. long. 



Upper Guinea. Old Calabar, Rev. W. C. Thomson! Hutchinson! 

 For a full account of the manner in which it is employed as an ordeal, reference 

 must be made to Professor Balfour's paper. 



63. PHASEOLUS, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 538. 



Upper teeth of calyx free or connate, the others deltoid or lanceolate. 

 Standard orbicular, recurved or subtwisting, the edges inflexed towards 

 the base : wings obovate or rarely oblong, equalling or exceeding the - 

 standard, adhering to- the keel above the claw, often twisted; keel 

 linear or obovate, with a long obtuse spirally twisted beak. Upper 

 stamen free, often incrassated or appendiculate above the base, the rest 



