138 PULSE FAMILY. 



50. LENS, LENTIL. (Classical Latin name. The shape of the seed 

 gave the name to the glass lens for magnifying.) 



L. esculenta, Moench. Common Lextil of Europe, cult, for fodder 

 and for the seeds, but rarely with us ; slender plant, barely 1° high, re- 

 sembling a Vetch, with several pairs of oblong leaflets (i' long), 2 or 3 

 small, white, or purplish flowers on a slender peduncle, and a small broad 

 pod, containing 2 orbicular sharp-edged (lens-shaped) seeds. 



51. CICER, CHICK-PEA. (An old Latin name for the Vetch.) ® 



C. arietlnum, Linn. Common C. of the Old World, called Coffee 

 Pea at the West, there cult, for its seeds, which are used for coffee ; 

 their shape gave the specific name, being likened to the head of a sheep ; 

 plant 9'-20' high, covered with soft, glandular, acid hairs ; leaves of 8- 

 12 wedge-obovate serrate leaflets ; peduncle bearing 1 small whitish 

 flower, succeeded by the turgid small pod. 



52. CERCIS, REDBUD, JUDAS TREE, (Ancient name of the 



Judas tree.) 



C. Canadensis, Linn. American Redbcd. A small handsome 

 tree, ornamental in spring, when the naked branches are covered with 

 the small but very numerous pinkish-red flowers ; leaves round, cordate- 

 pointed, the basal sinus very broad and shallow ; pods scarcely stalked 

 in the calyx. N. Y., S. and W. 



C. Chinensis, Bunge (or C. Japonica), a bushy grower, native to China 

 and possibly to Japan, has more glossy leaves with a sharper point and 

 a narrow, deep basal sinus, and larger rosy-pink flowers. Scarcely hardy 

 in Northern States. 



53. CASSIA, SENNA. (Ancient name of obscure meaning.) Flowers 

 summer. 



* Smooth herbs; leaflets rather large; stipules deciduous; flowers in 

 short axillary racemes or croivd^d in a panicle; stamens 10, unequal ; 

 some of the upper anthers impprfect. 



C. Marildndica, Linn. Wild Senna. 3°-4° high ; leaflets 6-9 pairs, 

 narrow-oblong, blunt, and mucronate ; petiole with a club-shaped gland 

 near the base ; petals bright yellow, often turning whitish when old ; 

 anthers blackish ; pods linear, flat (at first hairy). % New Eng., W. and S. 



C. T6ra, Linn. Leaflets 2 or 3 pairs, obovate, a pointed gland between 

 the lowest ; flowers pale, in pairs, and pods slender, curved, 6'-10' long. 

 ® From Va., S., and Ind. S. W. 



C. occidenta/is, Linn. l°-5° high ; leaflets 4-6 pairs, lance-ovate, 

 acute, a globular gland on the base of the petiole ; pods narrow-linear, 

 smooth, 5' long. ® Va. and Ind., S. Nat. from S. A. 



* * Low and spreading, smooth or roughish hairy herbs ; stipules per- 

 sistent, striate ; leaflets 10-20 pairs, small linear-oblong, oblique, 

 or unequal-sided, somewhat sensitive, closing when roughly brushed; 

 a Clip-shaped gland below the lowest pair ; flowers clustered in the axils. 



C. Chamaecrista, Linn. Partridge Pea. Flowers pretty large, 

 showy, on sleniler pedicels ; petals oiten purple-spotted at base ; style 

 slender ; stamens 10, unequal ; 4 anthers yellow, the others purple. 

 Sandy fields. (J) 



C. nictitans, Linn. Wild Sensitive Plant. Flowers small, o 

 very sliort pedicels, with short style ; anthers 6, nearly equal, (i) N 

 Eng., S. and W. 



