Desmodium LEGUMINOS^ 37 



Pedicels 2 or 3 together, -7-1 cm. 1. Flowers very small, rosy or greenish- 

 white tinged with purple. Calyx l-5(-2-5) mm. 1. Corolla about 3 mm. 1. 

 Pod 1-1 '5 cm. 1., puberulous with minute hooked hairs. 



7. D. seoppiurus Desv. Journ. Bat. i. 122 (1813); stem very 

 long, procumbent, rooting near the base, angular,, pubescent ; 

 leaflets 3 ; stipules semicordate, acuminata ; flowers in lax racemes 

 opposite a leaf or axillary; pod indented slightly equally from 

 both margins ; joints 7-4, net-veined, linear-oblong, more than 

 twice as long as broad, 4-5 mm. 1. — DC. Prodr. ii. 333 ; Macf. 

 Jam. i. 'ill; Griseb. loc. cit. ; Urh. torn. cit. 293. Hedysarum 

 triphyllum hirsutum &c. Browne Hist. Jam. 301. H. scorpiurus 

 Sw. Prodr. 107 (1788) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 1269. Meibomia scorpiurus 

 Kunize torn. cit. 198 (1891). 



Common in pastures and by roadsides ; in fl. Oct.-Jan. ; Sloane Herb, 

 iii. 86*! Guys Hill, Browne; Bancroft \ St. Andrew, Mts., Macfadyen; 

 Distin ! Golden Spring, 800 ft., Thompson ! Port Antonio, Lucea, Hitchcock ; 

 Hope Gardens, Harris I Fl. Jam, 8064, 11,854. — West Indies, Mexico 

 to Peru. 



Stems to 5 dm. and more. Leaflets roundish-elliptical or oblong- 

 elliptical, pubescent or glabrate on the upper surface, more or less pubescent 

 and glaucous beneath, l-3(-5) cm. 1. Racemes '5-1 "5 dm. 1. Calyx 

 2*5-3 mm. 1. Corolla pale rosy or whitish tinged with purple, 4*5 mm. 1. 

 Pod puberulous with minute hooked hairs. 



8. D. moUe DC. Prodr. ii. 332 (1825) ; stem erect, velvety- 

 pubescent with some hairs hooked ; leaflets 3 ; stipules semi- 

 cordate, acuminate ; flowers in terminal and axillary racemes or 

 panicles ; pod twisted, net-veined, of 2 joints only, the terminal 

 one fertile, the other sterile (occasionally both sterile) ; fertile 

 joint orbicular or elliptical, emarginate on one side, 6-7 mm. 1. — ■ 

 Macf. Jam. i. 267; Benth. tow,, cit. lOi ; Griseb. loc. cit.; Urb. 

 torn. cit. 292. Hedysarum molle Vahl Symb. ii. 83 (1791). 

 Meibomia mollis Kuntze torn. cit. 198 (1891). 



"In fl. end of year; common weed in the cane pieces of Guanaboa, 

 St. John." Macfadyen. — Hispaniola, Mona, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, 

 St. Cruz, Martinique, Curasao, Central America, Colombia, Brazil, Guiana. 

 We have not seen any specimen from Jamaica. 



Stem, somewhat shrubby, 2-3 ft. high or more. Leaflets ovate, ovate- 

 triangular to lanceolate, soft and velvety to the touch on both sides with 

 minute adpressed hairs, ciliate, 2-8 cm. 1. Racemes or panicles 1-3 dm. 1. 

 Pedicels generally 3 together, longer than the flowers, '5-'l cm. 1. Flowers 

 very small, purplish. Calyx about 2 mm. 1. Corolla about 3 mm. 1. Pod 

 puberulous. 



[D. gyrans DC. Prodr. ii. 326 (1825); leaflets 3; lateral 

 very small in comparison with the terminal leaflet and moving 

 by jerks (sometimes wanting) ; upper margin of pod continuous, 

 lower indented, indistinctly 6-10-jointed, dehiscing in a con- 

 tinuous line along the lower margin. — Wight Ic. t. 294 ; Bah. 



