. Crotalaria .] LEGUMlNOSiE. 75 



of the calyx falcate-oblong, much larger than the others, 4 to 5 lines long. 

 Petals yellow, not exceeding the calyx. Pod sessile, oblong, glabrous, about 

 half as long again as the calyx. — C. leiocarpa, Vog. in PL Meyen. 8. 



Common on the slope9 of the hills, Champion and others. Widely distributed over the 

 hilly districts of tropical Asia, from the Nilgherries and Cashmere to Burmah and South 

 China. 



6. C. elliptica, Roxb.; Benth. I. c. ii. 580. Stem woody at the base, 

 with stiff but slender straggling branches, 1 to 2 feet high, and usually 

 pubescent. Leaflets 3, oval-elliptical, obovate or rarely oblong, the terminal 

 one often 1 in. long, or even more, the lateral ones usually shorter, glabrous 

 above, slightly silky-pubescent underneath, the common petiole 6 to 9 lines 

 long. Racemes at first terminal, but very soon becoming leaf-opposed, about 

 1 in. long when in flower, 2 to 3 when in fruit. Flowers small, yellow, the 

 petals longer, however, than the calyx. Calyx obliquely ovoid -globular, about 

 3 lines long, closely pubescent. 



Hongkong, Hinds and others. Apparently common in South China, extending to Cochin 

 China, but not known from elsewhere. 



Tribe II. TEIFOLIEM 



Stem herbaceous, not twining. Leaves 3-foliolate, without stipellae, the 

 numerous veins of the leaflets extending to the edge, and often projecting 

 into minute teeth. Racemes usually axillary. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary 

 with 2 or more ovules, rarely with a single ovule. 



2. MEDICAGO, Linn. 



Pod very much curved, usually spirally twisted, or sometimes 1 -seeded and 

 reniform, and then with very much curved veins. 



A considerable genus, the species almost all indigenous to the Mediterranean region. 



1. M. lupulina, Linn.; DC. Prod. ii. 172. Stock perennial, with 

 several decumbent or ascending pubescent stems, 1 to 2 feet long. Stipules 

 entire. Leaves pubescent, with 3 obovate or obcordate slightly denticulate 

 leaflets. Flowers very small, yellow, in short dense pedunculate axillary ra- 

 -cemes. Pod very small (scarcely \\ lines long), ovoid-reniform, rather thick, 

 glabrous or pubescent, marked with much-curved veins, black when ripe, with 

 a single seed. 



Hongkong, probably introduced with Gram (Cicer), Hance. Common in pastures and 

 meadows over the greater part of Europe and Asia, but so frequently cultivated that in many 

 countries it can only be considered as a naturalized plaut. 



Some other Trifoliece of the genera Medicago, Trifolium, and Melilohis, are common as 

 indigenous or naturalized pasture plants or weeds in Asia as well as Europe, and may very 

 probably appear also in Hongkong. 



Tribe III. INDIGOFEREJE. 



A small tribe, almost limited to the genus Indigofera, distinguished chiefly 

 by the anthers, tipped with a gland or point, from Galegea, with which they 

 would be united, but that the leaflets are in a few species digitate, as in 

 Genistece. 



