34 FLORA OF JAMAICA Desmodium 



PI. 748 (1753) (as far as regards Jamaica) ; Miller Oard. Diet, 

 ed. 8. H. supinum Sw. Prodr. 106 (1788) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 

 1264. H. incanum Sw. Prodr. 107 (1788) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 1265. 

 Meibomia supina Britton in Ann. N. York Acad. Sci. vii. 83 (1892). 

 (Fig. 10.) 



Common in pastures and by roadsides; in fl. throughout the year; 

 Sloane Herb. iii. 88 ! Houstoicn ! Distin ! March ! King's House, J.P. 

 1320; Claverty Cottage, J.P. 1422 ; Hart\ J.P. 2114, Morris] Roberts- 

 field, Campbell 1 ' Spring Garden, Mrs. Espeut ! Arcadia, Mrs. Sewell 1 

 Yallahs Valley, 2500 ft. ; Plato Road, 2800 ft. ; Lititz savanna, 300-900 ft. ; 

 Harris] Ward's Rock, 700 ft., Thompson] Bethlehem, St. Elizabeth, 

 T. Harris \ Kingston, Constant Spring, Bog "Walk, Port Morant, Hitchcock ; 

 Port Antonio, Rothroch ; Porus, Lloyd; Fl. Jam. 6537, 6647, 8001, 11,759. 

 GuUy Road, St. Ann, Britton, 2563 ! — Florida, Bahamas, West Indies, 

 Yucatan, Guiana, Brazil ; also in Africa. 



Stems sometimes decumbent at the base and creeping, but more often 

 with numerous branches from a suberect woody base, pubescent sparingly 

 or more or less densely. Leaflets oblong-elliptical, elliptical, or lanceolate, 

 pubescent or glabrate on the upper surface, pubescent beneath, 1 • 5-7 cm. 1. ; 

 stipules lanceolate, persistent, 4-8 mm. 1. Racemes terminal, many-flowered, 

 to 1"5 dm. 1. Bracts linear-lanceolate, 3-4 mm. 1., deciduous. Calyx 

 2-3 mm. 1. Corolla about '5 cm. 1., pink or bluish-purple. Pod with 

 small hooked hairs, slightly curved, lower margin indented to the middle, 



3. D. intortum comb. nov. ; stem 3-cornered, angles with 

 hooked hairs ; leaflets 3 ; flowers in long lax racemes, terminal 

 and axillary ; upper margin of pod slightly notched ; joints 

 10-3, rhomboid-elliptical, 3-3-5 mm. 1. — D. uncinatum DG. 

 Prodr. it. 331 (1825); Benth. torn. cit. 9Q ; Griseb. op. cit. 187. 

 D. trigonum DC. torn. cit. 332 (1825) ; Mac/. Jam. i. 269. 

 Hedysarum triphyllum maximum &c. Broione Hist. Jam. . 301 

 (1756). H. intortum Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8 (1768). H. unci- 

 natum Jacq. Hort. Schcenbr. iii. 27, t. 298 (1798). H. trigonum 

 Sw. Prodr. 107 (1788) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 1267. Meibomia 

 uncinata Kuntze tom. cit. 197 (1891). Type in. Herb. Mus. Brit. 

 (specimen from Houstoun in Herb. Miller). 



In fl. Jan.-April; Lane in Herb. Sloane cLxii. 771 Houstounl Hope 

 River, Browne ; Liguanea, Broughton I lower mountains, St. Andrew, 

 Macfadyen; Port Royal Mts., ilfciVaft! A. W. Lanel Wilson] Mt. Hybla, 

 Watt] David's Hill, 3000 ft., Harris] Blue Mt. Peak, Hitchcock; Fl. Jam. 

 6665.— Tropical continental America. 



Stem trailing amongst bushes. Leaflets ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 pilose with adpressed hairs, and also with short hooked hairs along the 

 nerves on the upper side; petiole 3*cornered; stipules tapering from a 

 broad, triangular, amplexicaul base, ciliate, 8 mm. 1. ; stipels linear-lanceo- 

 late, 4-5 mm. 1. Racemes to 3 dm. L Bracts '6-1 cm. 1., deciduous. 

 Pedicels solitary or geminate, -5-1 cm. 1. Calyx 4-5 mm. 1., glabrous. 

 Corolla rosy-pink or purplish-blue, about 1 cm, 1. Pod with small hooked 

 hairs, curved, lower margin indented to or beyond the middle. 



4. D. axillare DC. Prodr. ii. 333 (1825) ; stem prostrate, 

 creeping, rooting at the nodes, pubescent ; branches procumbent 

 or ascending ; leaflets 3 ; flowers in long-stalked lax racemes 



