LEGUMINOSJE. 263 



lnmn of the stamens within the keel : stigma pubescent. Le- 

 gume of 2 joints ; the lower joint sometimes abortive ; the upper 

 compressed, obovato-trapezoidal, villous at the base, minutely 

 hispidulous, acuminate at the upper and outer angle with the 

 hooked remains of the style : seed solitary, compressed. 



XV. ^ESCHYNOMENE. 



Calyx 2-lipped, upper lip 2-fid or 2-dentate, infe- 

 rior 3-fid or 3-dentate. Stamens 10, in two rows, 

 equal, concrete. Legume compressed, transversely 

 articulated, exserted. Seeds solitary in each joint, 

 compressed. 



Herbs or shrubs, natives of the tropics ; leaves impari-pin- 

 nate, many-paired ; stipules semi-sagittate ; racemes axillary ; 

 bracteoles 2, opposite, under the calyx ; flowers generally yel- 

 low. The name was given by Pliny to a plant, which with- 

 drew its leaves from the contact of the hand. It is derived 

 from a/crui/oia/ to be modest. 



1. ^schynomene Americana. American Sensitive 



Plant. 



Stem suberect terete pilose, leaflets lineari-oblong 

 mucronate 20-30-paired subciliated racemes subra- 

 mose few-flowered, legumes glabrous with the arti- 

 culations straight on one side and rounded on the 

 other. 



Hedysarum caule hirsute, mimoste foliis alatis, pinnis acutis 

 minime gramineis, Sloane, I. 186. t. 118. f. 3. ^Eschynomene 

 Americana, Linn. Spec. 1061. Lam. III. pi. 629. f. 2 M. 

 sensitiva, Stvartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. 1276. 



HAB. Common in Lowland pastures. 



FL. Autumn. 



Stem suffruticose, about 2 feet in height, erect or ascending, 

 of a reddish colour, pilose ; hairs strigose, bearing a minute vis- 

 cid globule at their points. Leaves 2-3 inches in length, about 

 30-jugate ; leaflets subsessile, unequal at the base, lineari-ob- 

 long, mucronate, outer edge serrulate-ciliated, inner entire, 

 minutely puberulous, nerved, about d of an inch in length. 

 Stipules nearly an inch in length, lanceolate, ciliated, mares- 

 cent. Racemes axillary, subsimple, dichotomously dividing, 

 hispid and pilose, shorter than the leaf^furnished, at the points 

 of branching^ with leaf-like ovate concave mucronate serrato- 

 pilose bracteas. A pair of small lanceolate ciliated bracteoles 

 below the calyx. Upper lip of the calyx oval, scarcely bidentate, 

 ciliated. Standard bent back, flesh colour with a tinge of yel- 



