JES C 



what taller than the leaves, simple and nearly 

 square : the peduncle is square, naked and ter- 

 minal : the head cubical, consisting of four la- 

 teral flowers, and terminated by a fifth: in the 

 former, ten, in the latter, eight stamina; and in 

 the former rive, in the latter, four styles : the 

 flowers varying much both in the divisions of the 

 calyx and corolla, and in the number of the 

 stamina. It flowers towards the end of March 

 or the beginning of April, and the berries ripen 

 in May ; soon after which the leaves decay. 

 These as well as the flowers have a musky 

 smell. 



Culture — The propagation of this plant is 

 best accomplished by "offsets from the roots, 

 which should be transplanted into the situations 

 where they are to remain, in the summer or au- 

 tumn, as soon as convenient after the leaves 

 and branches have decayed. This plant succeeds 

 best in shady situations, as under the foliage 

 of shrubs, for when exposed to the full sun it 

 seldom grows well. It is a low-growing plant, 

 and does not possess much beauty; but from the 

 above property it may be useful in adorning and 

 affording a variety in wilderness quarters, and 

 other places where it is difficult to get plants to 

 grow on account of the shade. 



^ESCHYNOMENE, the Bastard Sensitive 

 Plant, a genus including plants of both the 

 annual and perennial exotic kinds, and of some- 

 what shrubby growth. 



It belongs to the class and order of Diadelphia 

 Decandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Papilionacece or Leguminosce. 



The characters of which are : that the calyx is 

 a one-leafed, bell-shaped, sub-bilabiate perian- 

 thium, with equal lips, the upper bifid, and the 

 lower three-toothed : the corolla papilionaceous, 

 w. ith a sub-cordate, scarcely gaping, large banner ; 

 sub-ovate, obtuse wings, shorter than the banner; 

 and lunate, acuminate keel of the length of the 

 wings : the stamina have ten filaments, single, 

 and nine-cleft, and small antherce : the pistillum 

 is an oblong, villous, columnar germen : the 

 style subulate and rising : the stigma simple, 

 Tat her obtuse: the pericarpium is a long, flat- 

 jointed, rough, one-celled legume, opening at 

 the truncate joints : the seeds are solitary, be- 

 tween the joints, and kidney-shaped. 



There are several species : but those mostly 

 cultivated are, 1. JE. grandiflora, Great-flow- 

 trcd jEschynomene ; 2. JE. arlorea, Tree JEs- 

 rhynomene ; 3. JE. coccinea, Scarlet-flowered 

 ./Eschynomene ; 4. JE. Sesian, Egyptian iEschy- 

 nomene; 5. JE. aspera, Rough-leaved .(Eschy- 

 nomene ; 6. JE. Americana, American Hairy 

 ./Eschynomene. 



The first is a shrub rising from ten to fifteen 

 feet in height. The trunk is upright, without 



i:sc 



spines : the branches spreading a little, round 

 and pubescent. The leaves are pinnate, alternate, 

 scattered, a foot long : petioles round, thicker 

 at the base and smooth. The leaflets from twelve 

 to eighteen pairs, opposite, oblong, obtuse, 

 entire, smooth on both sides, standing on very 

 short petiolules. The peduncles are axillary, few, 

 short, bifid or trifid : the pedicels short, and one- 

 flowered. The flowers are pendulous, of a white 

 colour, very large, frequently the size of a hen's 

 egg. The cup is obtusely rive-toothed, ovate- 

 globose, swelling a little. The corolla resupi- 

 nate : the banner wide, reflex, sub-cordate at the 

 base, elliptic entire, waving on the edge : the 

 wings oblong, sickle-shaped, with claws at the 

 base, sharp, pressed close to the keel, which is a 

 little shorter than the banner, undivided, sickle- 

 shaped, angular in the middle, curved, and the 

 outmost tip bifid. The legume is two feet in 

 length, linear, compressed, with a membrana- 

 ceous isthmus between the seeds, which are of a 

 roundish form. It is a native of the East-Indies. 

 The second species grows to the height of six 

 or seven feet, with a single stem : the leaves are 

 smooth, and come out towards the top of thestalk, 

 forming there a sort of head ; they are composed 

 of many pinnas, placed alternately on the mid-rib. 

 The flowers proceed from the wings of the leaves, 

 two or three together, are large, and of a copper 

 colour. 



The third is a smaller and lower tree than the 

 first ; but the head and leaves are more close : 

 the latter are about a foot in length, and have 

 twenty pairs of leaflets. From the axils proceeds 

 a single peduncle, dividing into two, each of 

 which bears a large flower, but somewhat smaller 

 than that of the first sort, and the colour is red 

 mixed with purple. The legume is a foot and half 

 in length. It is a native of the East Indies, and 

 of several of the islands in the South Seas. 



The fourth has woody stems and branches, 

 with smooth leaves composed of many blunt 

 opposite pinnas. The flowers, which are small, 

 and of a deep yellow colour, come out from the 

 axils in long spikes hanging downwards. The le- 

 gumes are smooth and taper-pointed, not jointed : 

 the cups are bell-shaped, equal, five-toothed and 

 spreading. It flowers in July and August, and 

 is a native of Egypt. 



The fifth rises to the height of four or five 

 feet, with a single herbaceous stem, which is in 

 some parts rough. The leaves come out on every 

 side towards the top, forming a sort of head, 

 and they are composed of a great number of 

 smooth glaucous pinnas. The flowers proceed 

 from between the leaves, two or three together, 

 upon long petioles, and are of a yellow colour. 

 The legume is about four inches in length. It. 

 is a native of the East Indies. 



