Alysicarpus.'] leguminos,e. 81 



the lower ones cordate, orbicular, or oval, not 6 lines long ; the upper ones 

 from oval-oblong to lanceolate -linear, and often 9 lines long or more, all ob- 

 tuse. Racemes slender, terminal, or at length leaf-opposed, from ^ to 1 in. 

 long. Calyx about 2 lines long, 5 -cleft ; the lobes very narrow, with a su- 

 bulate or almost hair-like point. Petals scarcely longer. Pod 6 to 9 lines 

 long, slightly compressed, obscurely wrinkled, the separation of the articles 

 marked by transverse raised lines, but without any contraction. — A. nummu- 

 lariafoUus, DC. 1. c. 



Hongkong, Hance, Wright. Common in grassy and waste places in India and the Ar- 

 chipelago. 



2. A. buplevrifolius, DC. Prod. ii. 352. A glabrous perennial, re- 

 sembling the last, but usually more erect and taller, although sometimes short 

 and decumbent. Leaves mostly oblong-linear, and nearly sessile, the longest 

 often 1 or 2 in. or even more in length ; the lower ones broader and shorter, 

 sometimes ovate. Racemes slender, often 6 in. long ; the flowers in distant 

 pairs, larger than in A. vaginalis. Calyx 3 to 3^ lines long ; the lobes lanceo- 

 late, glumaceous, and overlapping each other. Petals scarcely so long. Pod 

 sometimes scarcely exceeding the calyx, sometimes twice as long, the articles 

 quite smooth and separated by distinct although often very slight contractions. 



Hongkong, Wright. Common in the plains of India and in the Archipelago. 



9. URARIA, Desv. 



Calyx shortly and broadly campanulate, with 5 subulate lobes or teeth ; the 

 2 upper ones often more or less united. Petals narrow, the standard obovate. 

 Stamens diadelphous, the upper one free from the base. Ovules several. Pod 

 stipitate, often bent back upon the calyx, consisting of 2 to 6 flattened joints, 

 separated by veiy narrow contractions, and folded on each other. — Perennials 

 or undershrubs. Leaflets 1, 3, or more, opposite in pairs, with a terminal 

 odd one, with stipellse. Stipules lanceolate, dry, striate. Racemes terminal, 

 usually dense. Pedicels in pairs. 



A genus of several S. Asiatic species, a few of which extend into tropical Africa or into 

 Australia. 



1. XJ, crinita, Desv.; DC. Prod. ii. 324. Perennial woody stem or 

 stock usually very short. Flowering stems decumbent or ascending, from 6 

 in. to 2 or 3 feet high, the whole plant pubescent, with minute hooked hairs. 

 Leaflets usually 3 or 5, oblong, and often 4 to 6 in. long, or sometimes re- 

 duced to one, which is then shorter and more ovate. Stipules broadly lanceo- 

 late, striate, with long points. Racemes nearly sessile, cylindrical, and veiy 

 dense, short at first, but attaining at length in some Chinese specimens 1 to 

 1| feet, and very hairy. Lower bracts ovate, lanceolate, and persistent; up- 

 per ones lanceolate, projecting beyond the flowers in a terminal tuft, but falling 

 off after the flowers expand. Standard about 4^ lines long. Pod usually 

 pubescent, of 3 or 4 small articles. — U. comosa, DC. 1. c. U. macrostachya, 

 Wall. PL As. Rar. ii. t. 110. 



Common near the Albany barracks, Champion ; also Hance. Frequent in the Indian Ar- 

 chipelago ; extends to eastern India and to Ceylon. 



G 



