123 

 1340. Types of 

 styles. 1, D. Lablab; 

 2, Vigna sinensis; 3, 

 V. sesquipedalis. 



DOLICHODEIRA 



DOLICHODElRA: Sinningia. 



DOLICHOS (old Greek name). Leguminbsse. Tropi- 

 cal twiners (a bush variety of D. Lablab is now being 

 offered by seedsmen), of which a few forms are in culti- 

 vation, some for ornament and some for forage. 



Keel of the corolla narrow and 

 bent inward at right angles, but 

 not distinctly coiled; style bearded 

 under the stigma, which is termi- 

 nal; stipules small. For botanical 

 distinctions between Dolichos, 

 Phaseolus and Vigna see Vigna. 

 The styles are points of difference 

 (Fig. 1340). D. japonicus, a most 

 worthy ornamental vine, will be 

 found under Pueraria. For D. ses- 

 quipedalis, see Vigna Perhaps 50- 

 60 species, widely distributed. 

 Three species of Doh'chos are now 

 grown in Amer. 



A. Style bearded only on a ring sur- 

 rounding and just below the stigma. 

 biflorus, Linn. This species is now being intro. 

 from India, where it is frequently used as a forage 

 plant. It differs from D. Lablab in having the upper lip 

 of the calyx 2-toothed and from D. Lablab and D. 

 lignosus in haying only a ring or brush of hairs just 

 beneath the stigma, whereas the styles of the other 

 species are bearded on a line extending down the inner 

 face. The seeds are small (average weight .035 gram) 

 and rather strongly flattened. Their approximate 

 dimensions are length K~/4 m -> width 7-Jin., thickness 

 jJjin. (2-2Y 2 mm.). 



AA. Style bearded along the inner side. 

 B. Seeds small, Y^-Y^in. long by %-}4in. broad, average 



weight .02 grams. 



lignosus, Linn. AUSTRALIAN PEA. Fig. 1339. Ever- 

 green: fls. white or rosy purple: Ivs. much smaller than 

 in D. Lablab. A perennial rapidly growing vine, Suitable 

 for covering fences and outbuildings in warm countries; 

 highly recommended in S. Calif, and Ariz. B.M. 380. 

 A form with white fls. is offered by seedsmen as D. alba. 



BB. Seeds large, ^ArYftn. long by J^-%m. broad, average 



weight .10-.30 grams. 



Lablab, Linn. (D. cultrdtus, Thunb. D. purpureus, 

 Lindl. Ldblab cultrdtus, DC.). HYACINTH BEAN. Figs. 

 1339, 1340, 1341. Tall-twining 

 (often 10-20 ft.) : Ifts. broad-ovate, 

 rounded below and cuspidate- 

 pointed at the apex, often crinkly: 

 fls. purple or white, rather large, 2- 

 4 at the nodes, in a long erect ra- 

 ceme: pods small (2-3 in. long) and 

 flat, usually smooth, conspicuously 

 tipped with the persistent style; 

 seed black, mahogany or gray, in 

 the white-fid, varieties, white, small 

 (average weight about J^ gram). 

 Tropics. B.M. 896. B.R. 830. 

 A.G. 14:84. Cult, in this country 

 as an ornamental climbing bean, but 

 in the tropics the pods and seeds are eaten. Annual. It 

 is easily grown in any good garden soil. Like common 

 beans it will not endure frost. It is very variable. 

 White-fld . and dwarf bush forms are now offered by seeds- 

 men. A form with white fls. and very large growth is 

 known among horticulturists as D. giganteus (Fig. 1342). 

 D. pseudopachyrrhizus. Harms, recently intro. into some of the 

 European gardens from Trop. Afr., is a perennial form with a large 

 tuberous rootstock: sts. long, round or angular: Ivs. long-stalked, 

 3-foliplate; Ifts. very variable in shape, the lateral often ovate or 

 elliptic and the terminal broadly rhomboid, 3J^-8 in. long, 2^-7 

 in. broad: fls. small, chiefly violet-blue, in racemes Ji-IJi ft. long. 



GEO. F. FREEMAN. 



DOMBEYA 



1005 



1341. Calyx cups 

 and styles of Doli- 

 chos. 1, D. lignosus; 

 2, D. Lablab. 



DOMB^YA (after Joseph Dombey (1742-1795) 

 French botanist and companion of Ruiz and Pavon 

 in Peru and Chile). Syn. Assonia, Astrapxa. Sterculid- 

 cese. Shrubs or small trees of continental Afr., Madagas- 

 car and Seychelles, sometimes planted in Fla. and Calif. : 

 Ivs. often cordate, palmately nerved, frequently lobed: 

 fls. rosy or white, numerous, in loose axillary or terminal 

 cymes, in umbels, or crowded into dense heads, often 

 very showy; calyx 5-parted, persistent; petals 5; 

 stamens 15-20, 5 sterile, the remainder shorter, united 

 into a tube or cup; ovary 2-5-celled; stigmas 5: fr. a 

 loculicidal caps. Probably 100 species, many new 

 kinds having been made known recently with the 

 opening of Trop. Afr. The dombeyas are yet little 

 known in this country, although some of them promise 

 well for lawn and park planting far south. 



natalensis, Sond. Distinguished by its cordate, 

 acute Ivs. and the narrowly awl-shaped Ifts. of the invo- 

 lucre: Ivs. long, petioled, somewhat angular, toothed, 

 with minute stellate pubescence, 

 5-7-ribbed: umbels 4-8-fld. Natal. 

 Cult, in S. Fla. and North under 

 glass. Very rapid-growing, foliage 

 poplar-like: fls. pure white, large, 

 sweet-scented; a very good winter- 

 blooming plant in S. Calif. 



spectfibilis, Bojer. Small tree : Ivs. 

 cordate, orbicular or oblong, acute, 

 undulate, 5-9-nerved, rough above 

 and rusty or whitish pubescent 

 beneath, the petioles downy: fls. 

 ^in. across, white, in many-fld. 

 much-branched axillary and termi- 

 nal cymes; sepals lanceolate, shorter 

 than corolla; petals roundish; sta- 

 mens united only at base. E. Trop. 

 Afr. A plant under this name is 

 catalogued in this country as "a 

 tall shrub with straw-colored and 

 pink fls." 



acutfingula, Cav. (Astrapxa tilise- 

 fdlia, Sweet). Low tree or shrub, 

 with Ivs. crowded at ends of 

 branches: Ivs. thin, round- 

 cordate, nearly glabrous, 

 palmately 3-5-lobed: fls. 

 in 2-parted cymes; brac- 

 teoles large, ovate, falling; 

 sepals H m - r l ess long, 

 reflexing; petals white or 

 reddish, J^in. long, ob- 

 lique-obovate; stamens 18, 

 being exceeded in length 

 by the staminodia; ovary 

 densely tomentose, and 

 styles free at top only. 

 Mauritius and Bourbon. 

 B.M. 2905 (form with en- 

 tire Ivs.). 



punctata, Cav. Tree, the 

 young parts hairy: Ivs. 

 smooth and firm, orbicular 

 and deeply cordate, acute, 3-4 in. long, obscurely cre- 

 nate: fls. 10-20 in a simple umbel that has a peduncle 

 2-3 times the length of the petiole; sepals linear-lanceo- 

 late, reflexed; petals rather longer than sepals, obdel- 

 toid; ovary tomentose. Mauritius and Bourbon. Intro, 

 in S. Calif. 



nairobensis, Engler. Shrub or tree with terete 

 branches that become glabrous or nearly so: Ivs. ovate- 

 cordate, acuminate, somewhat 3-lobed, irregularly 

 crenate, 7-nerved, hairy, and tomentose beneath: fls. 

 on long hispid pedicels in an umbel; bracteoles ovate- 

 lanceolate; sepals lanceolate, becoming reflexed, 

 tomentose outside; petals oblique and obtuse, scarcely 



1342. Dolichos Lablab (form 

 giganteus). (XJi) 



