PsoraleaJ] L. LEGUMINOS^B. (J. G. Baker.) 103 



18. PSORAS.EA, Linn. 



Herts or undershrubs. Leaves simple or odd-pinnate, conspicuously 

 .gland-dotted. Ctf/f/.r-tube campanulate ; teeth 5, distinct. Corolla little ex- 

 serted ; petals all with distinct claws ; keel obtuse, the tip slightly incurved. 

 Upper stamen free or connate, the tube in an early stage often closed ; anthers 

 small, uniform or slightly dimorphous. Ovary sessile or short-stalked, ovulate ; 

 style long, filiform, incurved, stigma minute, terminal. Pod ovoid or oblong, 

 1-seeded, indehiscent, the pericarp adhering to the seed. DISTBIB. Species 

 about 100, mainly Cape and N. American. 



1. P. cprylifolia, Linn. ; DC. Prodr. ii. 218; herbaceous, leaves simple, 

 racemes dense short. Burm. Fl. Ind. 172, t. 49, fig. 2 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 387 ; 

 Watt. Cat. 5351 ; W. $ A. Prodr. 198 ; Sot. Mac/, t. 665 ; Dalz. $ Gibs. Bomb. 

 Fl. 60. Trifoliuin unifolium, Forsk. Flor. JEyypt. Aral. 130 ; Burrn. FL Ind. 

 t. 49. 



Plains from the HIMALAYAS through India proper to CEYLON. 



An erect annual, 13 ft. high. Branches firm, conspicuously gland-dotted. Leaves 

 distinctly petioled, roundish, 1-3 in. long, inciso-repand, firm in texture, both sides 

 conspicuously dotted with black dots, nearly glabrescent. Flowers 10-30 in dense 

 oopious long-pcduncled heads. Calyx nearly sessile, ^ in. ; teeth lanceolate, long, the 

 lowest longest. Corolla yellow, little exserted. Pod small, black, subglobose; glabrous. 



2. P. plicata, Delile ; DC. Prodr. ii. 221 ; shrubby, leaves trifoliolate, 

 racemes lax elongated. Delile , Egypt, t. 37, fig. 3. 



Plains of the PUNJAB, Tltomson, Edgeworth, Stewart. DISTRIB. Arabia, Egypt, 

 'Trop. Africa. 



A low copiously-branched shrub, the stems obscurely argenteo-canescent, ver- 

 rucose, the denuded branchlets subspinescent. Leaves short-petioled ; leaflets sub- 

 coriaceous, dull green, oblanceolate, obtuse, repand, gland-dotted below only, reaching 

 ^1 in. long, the end one largest, the side ones oblique. Racemes short-peduncled, 

 2-3 in. long; lower flowers in distant fascicles; bracts ovate, very minute. Calyx 

 in., clothed with adpressed white hairs, accrescent, clasping tightly the included 

 pod ; teeth short, the lowest longest. Corolla yellow, slightly exserted. 



19. CO2LUTEA, Linn. 



Shrubs with odd-pinnate leaves and showy yellow flowers in sparse copi- 

 ous axillary racemes. Calyx campanulate, with 5 short teeth. Corolla much 

 exserted ; standard round, fixed in its place by two basal callosities ; keel, broad, 

 much incurved, not beaked. Stamens diadelphous ; anthers uniform. Ovary sti- 

 pitate, linear, GO -ovulate ; style filiform, much incurved, bearded along the inner 

 side, stigma large oblique. Pod large, membranous, inflated, continuous within, 

 nearly or quite indehiscent. DISTKIB. Species 3 or 4, spread through South 

 Europe and Temperate Asia. 



1. C. arborescens, Linn. var. STEPALENSIS. 0. nepalensis, Sims Bot. 

 Mag. t. 2622 ; Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1727 : Benth. in Royle III. 198 ; Brand, For. 

 Fl. 136. 



TEMPERATE WEST HIMALAYA, KUNAWAR, TIBET, NIPAL, &c., alt. 8-11,000 ft. 

 DISTKIB. Orient, S. Europe. 



A subglabrous shrub, G-10 ft. high. Leaflets 9-13, obovate, pale green, ^ | in. 

 long, often emarginate, obscurely silky in the young state. Racemes as long as the 

 leaves, laxly 3-4-flowered. Calyx 5" i n - Corolla bright yellow, f in. long ; standard 

 furnished at the base with two nipple-shaped papillae. Pod %-2 in. long, faintly 

 downy when young, splitting at the tip before ripening. 



