394 



FABACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



2. Stylosanthes riparia Kearney. Decumbent Pencil- 

 flower. Fig. 2574. 



Stylosanthes riparia Kearney, Bull. Torr. Club 24: 565. 1897. 



Stems decumbent, or ascending, 3'-i2' long, usually with a 

 tomentose line on the elongated internodes. Stipules sheath- 

 ing, subulate above; petioles pubescent; leaflets elliptic to 

 obovate-cuneate, the terminal one 5 "-9" long, the lateral ones 

 somewhat smaller ; spikes terminal, about 6-flowered, with 

 only I or 2 perfect flowers-; calyx-tube conspicuously veined, 

 about 2" long; vexillum proportionately longer than in S. 

 biflora; floral bracts usually deeply cleft to the middle, or 

 beyond, 2-nerved; upper (perfect) segment of the pod nearly 

 twice as broad as in S. biflora. 



In dry woods, Pennsylvania and Delaware to West Virginia, 

 Alabama and Tennessee. May-Aug. 



37. ZORNIA Gmel. Syst. 2: 1096. 1791. 



Herbs, with digitately 4-foliolate or 2-foliolate petioled leaves, the leaflets not stipellate, 

 the stipules small or foliaceous, sagittate. Flowers yellow in our species, small, interruptedly 

 spicate, large-bracted, sessile, rarely solitary, the spikes axillary and terminal, peduncjed. Bracts 

 2 together, nearly enclosing the flower. Calyx 2-lipped, 5-lobed, its tube short. Standard 

 nearly orbicular, clawed; wings oblique; keel incurved. Stamens monadelphous ; anthers 

 alternately longer and shorter. Ovary sessile; ovules several; style very slender. Loment 

 flat, several-jointed. [In honor of Johann Zorn, a German apothecary.] 



About 12 species, all natives of America, 2 of them naturalized in the warmer regions of the 

 Old World, the following typical. Besides the following, another occurs in the southwestern states. 



i. Zornia bracteata (Walt.) Gmel. Zornia. Fig. 2575. 



Anonymos bracteata Walt. Fl. Car. 181. 1788. 

 Zornia bracteata Gmel. Syst. 2: 1096. 1791. 

 Zornia tetraphylla Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 76. 1803. 



Perennial by a long woody root, glabrous or spar- 

 ingly finely pubescent; stems wiry, prostrate, i-2 

 long. Stipules about 3" long; petioles \'-\' long, slen- 

 der; leaflets 4, oblong, lanceolate, or oblong-obovate, 

 acute at both ends, i'-i' long, or those of the lower 

 leaves obtuse at the apex and shorter ; peduncles longer 

 than the petioles ; spikes several-flowered, much inter- 

 rupted in fruit, 2'-^' long; bracts ovate or broadly oval, 

 3 "-5" long, acute or acutish; pod 3-5-jointed, the joints 

 oval, ii"-2" long, densely spinulose. 



In dry sandy soil, southeastern Virginia to Florida, 

 Texas and Mexico. May-Aug. 



Arachis hypogaea L., the pea-nut, is occasionally seen 

 as a waif, not permanently established. 



38. MEIBOMIA Heist. Fabr. Enum. PI. Hort. Helmst. 168. 1759. 



[DESMODIUM Desv. Journ. Bot. (II.) i : 122. pi. 5, f. 15. 1813.] 



Perennial herbs, sometimes woody at the base, erect, ascending or trailing, with stipellate 

 3-foliolate or in some species i- or S-foliolate leaves, and usually small flowers in terminal 

 or Axillary compound or simple racemes or panicles. Calyx-tube short, its teeth more or less 

 united into 2 lips, the upper one variously 2-toothed, the 3 lower teeth acute or attenuate. 

 Standard oblong, ovate or orbicular, narrowed or rarely clawed at the base ; wings obliquely 

 oblong; keel nearly straight, obtuse. Stamens monadelphous or diadelphous (9 and i) ; 

 anthers all alike. Ovary sessile or stalked; ovules 2-00. Loment flat, sessile or stalked. 

 several jointed, the joints mainly coriaceous and pubescent or muricate, indehiscent or rarely 

 partially dehiscent, readily separable. [Named for Dr. Brandus Meibom, died at Helmstadt, 

 1740.] 



