138 PCLSE FAMILY. 



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

 gave the name to the glass lens for magnifying.) 



L. escu/enta, Moench. Co.mmox 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 (^' long), 2 or 8 

 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. arieilnum, 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. Americ.vn REOBrn. 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. X. Y., S. and W. 



C. Chinensis, Bunge (or C. Japonic.^), 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 crowded in a panicle; stamens 10, unequal ; 

 somf. of the upper anthers imperfect. 



C. Marildndica, Linn. Wild Senna. 30-4° high ; leaflets 6-0 pairs, 

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

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

 anthers blacki.sh ; pods linear, flat (at first hairy). "21 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, carved, 6'-10' long. 

 ® From Va., 8,, and Ind. S. W. 



C. occidentalism Linn. 1°-;")° 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-ohlnng, oblique, 

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

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



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

 showy, on slender pedicels ; petals often purple-spotted at base ; style 

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

 Sandy fields. ® 



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

 very short pedicels, with short style ; anthers 5, nearly equal. X> ^'^^'-"^'^ 

 Enir.. S. and W. 



