Desmantkus.] xlvii. § mimose^e (oliver). 335 



rent lines from each leaf; attaining 2 or 3 ft. in height. Pinnae usually 

 in 2-4 pairs ; rachis with an oblong sessile gland below the lowest 

 pair ; leaflets " sensitive," in 10-20 pairs, linear-oblong, subapiculate, 

 base obliquely truncate, sessile, 1J-3 lines long. Legume usually 

 straight, 2-3J in. long, 1J-3 lines broad. 



_ The only Tropical African specimens which I have seen are in Dr. Welwitsch's herba- 

 rium, collected in Ambriz (Congo), where the plant occurs sporadically amongst culti- 

 vated Amaranthacece. 



11. MIMOSA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 593. 



Flowers small, capitate (or spicate), 4-5-merous. Calyx minute, 

 campanulate, dentate or irregularly laciniate with setaceous segments. 

 Petals connate more or less or nearly free, valvate. Stamens (as many 

 as or) twice as many as petals, free, exserted ; anthers small, eglandu- 

 lar ; " pollen-grains indefinite." Legume oblong or linear, usually flat, 

 valves separating entire or in transverse articles from the persistent 



sutural replum — Herbs, shrubs or trees, sometimes scandent, 



aculeate or unarmed. Leaves bipinnate, often sensitive ; petiolar glands 

 rarely present. Pedunculate heads (or spikes) axillary or racemose 

 towards the extremities, solitary or fascicled. 



A very large chiefly Tropical American genus, with few outliers in the Old World. 

 Of the following, M . asperata is a common species in both hemispheres, M. violacea 

 restricted to Eastern Africa. 



Legume densely hispid. Calyx setaceous-laciniate. Leaflets 25-40- 

 jugate 1. If. asperata. 



Legume glabrous. Calyx campanulate, denticulate. Leaflets 8-12- 

 jugate ? 2. if. violacea. 



1. M. asperata, Linn. ; Benth. in Hook. Journ. Bot. iv. 1842, 400. 

 A much branched prickly and coarsely setulose-pubescent hirsute or 

 strigillose shrub, often attaining several feet. Prickles sharply pointed, 

 straight, or reflexed from a vertically dilated base. Leaves strigose 

 hispid or pilose, usually with slender prickles between the subopposite 

 pinnae; pinnae usually from 7-16 pairs; leaflets crowded, usually 

 25-40-jugate, linear, more or less acute, strigose strigose-ciliate 

 or glabrate, usually from 1J-4 lines long. Peduncles axillary, 

 at length stout, J-1J in. long, solitary or towards the ends of the 

 branches 2 or 3 from each axil. Capitula whitish rose or purple. 

 Flowers 4-merous. Calyx minute, irregularly laciniate with seta- 

 ceous teeth. Legume oblong or linear- oblong, straight or falcate, 

 compressed, densely strigose-hirsute, apex rounded usually tipped 

 with the remains of the style ; valves breaking up into numerous 

 narrow transverse articles, which separate from the slender sutural 

 replum ; 1J-3 in. long, -J in. broad, on a stipes of 1-3 lines or sessile. 

 — M. polyacantha, Willd. ; DC. Prod. ii. 428 ; M. procumbens, Schum. 

 et Thonn. PI. Gum. 324; Ergett el Krone, Bruce, Abyss, vii. t. 7. 

 (For further synonymy see Bentham 1. c.) 



