Phaseolus. LEGUMINOS^. 161 



longer than the tube. Corolla purplish red : keel with a very long curved beak, without a 

 tooth at the base. Legume 3-3^ inches long and 3-4 lines wide, black when ripe. Seeds 

 about twice as long as wide, nearly cylindrical, covered with a kind of mealy pubescence, 

 which easily rubs off, leaving a smooth purplish testa : hilum linear. 



Common on sandy shores, particularly in the neighborhood of New- York. I have not found 

 it above the Highlands. August - September. 



3. Phaseolus helvolus, Linn. Long-stalked Kidney-bean. 



Perennial ; stem slender, hairy backwards ; leaflets ovate, oblong, usually entire, about the 

 length of the petiole ; stipules lanceolate ; peduncles slender, 3-6 times as long as the leaves ; 

 flowers few, capitate; legume narrowly linear, 9 - 11-seeded, slightly pubescent; seeds 

 pubescent, reniform-quadrangular. — Linn. sp. 1017 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 470 ; Michx. ji. 2, 

 p. 60 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 395 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. l.p. 280. P. vexillatus, Linn. I. c. 1 ; 

 Pursh, I. c. ; DC. 1. c. ; Beck, hot. p. 92 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 430. C. peduncularis, 

 Ell. sk. 2. p. 230. Glycine peduncularis, Muhl. cat. p. 67. 



Stems 3 — 4 feet long, much more slender than in the preceding species. Leaflets 1 - If 

 inch long, rarely somewhat 3-lobed. Peduncles usually 3 - 5-flowered, sometimes 8-10 

 inches long. Flowers nearly as in the preceding species : beak of the keel with a tooth at 

 the base. Legume about 2j inches long and 2 lines wide. Seeds covered with a mealy 

 pubescence, somewhat truncate at each end, so that they have a square outline : hilum linear- 

 oblong. 



Sandy fields. Long Island ; not found elsewhere in the State. Fl. August - September. — 

 This species can in general be easily distinguished from the preceding, by its perennial root, 

 long peduncles, and very narrow legumes. 



5. APIOS. Boerh. ; Moench, meth. p. 165; Endl. gen. 6673. ground-NUT. 



[ Greek, apios, a pear ; from the form of its tuberous roots.] 



Calyx broadly campanulate, obscurely 2-lipped ; the upper lip of two short rounded teeth. 

 Vexillum very broad, with a longitudinal fold in the centre, reflexed : keel long, falcate, 

 and with the stamens and style at length spirally twisted. Stigma emarginate. Legume 

 somewhat terete, slightly falcate, many-seeded. Seeds reniform. — A perennial, twining, 

 nearly smooth herb. Root producing numerous small, oblong or pear-shaped, somewhat 

 edible tubers. Leaves 5 - 7-foliolate, with minute stipules. Racemes axillary, dense, 

 sometimes compound ; the pedicels short, growing 3 or 4 together from little knobs of the 

 rachis. Calyx with 2 minute caducous bracteoles at the base. Flowers brownish purple. 



[Flora.] 21 



