190 LEGUMINOS^. Ca^sUv 



resembles the Senna of the sHops (which is also a species of Cassia) in its medicinal proper- 

 ties, and may be substituted for it. See the works on materia medica quoted above ; ako 

 Wood 4- Bache's U. S. Dispens. p. 182. 



^2. Lasiorhegma, Vogel. Stamens \0, or by abortion 9^ - 5. Anthers all fertile, commonly of 



unequal length, linear. 



2. Cassia CHAMiECitisTA, Linn: Partridge Pea. Sensitive Pea. 



Annual, erect or decumbent ; leaflets in numerous pairs, linear-oblong, oblique at the base, 

 obtuse, mucronate ; gland on the petiole cup-shaped; fascicles of flowers above the axils of 

 the leaves ; pedicels slender, bracteolate near the summit ; flowers large ; sepals with a long 

 attenuate point ; style filiform. — Michx. fl.. 1. p. 262 ; Smith in Abbot, ins. Georg: t. 94 ; 

 Bot. mag. t. 107 ; Pursh, fl. \. p. 306 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 473 ; Bigel fl. Bost. p. 171 ; Torr. 

 fl. I. p. 439 ; DC.prodr. 2. p. 503 ; Beck, bot. p. 94 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 433 ; Torr. 4- 

 Gr.fl. N.Am. 1. p. 395. 



Stem commonly procumbent, spreading and branching from the base, about a foot long, 

 pubescent. Leaflets 10-15 pairs, 6-8 lines long, smooth. Stipules and bracts subulate, 

 striate, persistent. Fascicles 2 - 4-fk)wered : pedicels nearly an inch long, each with two 

 bracteoles a little below the flower. Calyx colored, two-thirds the length of the corolla. Petals 

 orange-yellow, obovate, two and sometimes- three of them \Vith a purple spot at the base. 

 Anthers elongated, nearly sessile, four of them yellow, the rest purple. Style smooth, longer 

 than the villous ovary. Legume about 2 inches long and, one-third of an inch wide, 10-15- 

 seeded, hairy along the sutures, smoothish on the sides. 



Sandy fields : Staten Island ; Long Island ; in the neighborhood of New- York ; and along 

 the Hudson to Troy ; rare in the interior of the State. July - September, 



3. Cassia nictitans, Linn^ Wild Sensitive Plant. 



Annual, erect or decumbent ; leaflets in numerous' pairs, oblong-linear, obtuse, mucronate ; 

 gland beneath the lowest pair of leaflets cup-shaped, slightly pedicellate ; fascicles of flowers 

 above the axils of the leaves, 2 - 3-flowered ; pedicels very short ; flowers small ; sepals 

 acuminate ; stamens 5, nearly equal ; style very short. — Lmn. hart. Cliff, t. 36 ; Michx. 

 fl.l. p. 262 ; Pursh, Jl. 1. p. 206; Ell. sk. 1. p. 474 ; Torr. fl.l. p. 440 ; DC. prodr. 2. 

 p. 503 ; Beck, bot. p. 94 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 432 ; Torr. ^ Or. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 396. 



Stem 8 - 12 inches high, with spreading branches from the base, pubescent, commonly 

 purplish, slender. Leaflets 10 - 20 pairs, 4-6 lines long, a little oblique at the base, often 

 emarginate, nearly smooth. Gland on the petiole dilated, purplish, on a short stalk. Flowers 

 3 — 4 lines long. Sepals ovate-lanccolale, with a long acumination. Petals deep yellow, 

 obovate. Anthers truncated at the summit^ opening by longitudinal slits their whole length. 

 Ovary villous, more than twice the length of the style, which is thickened at the extremity : 

 stigma truncate. Legume an inch and a half long, flat, clothed with appressed hairs. 



