Vol.. II.] 



SENNA FAMILY. 



257 



5-toothed. Corolla irregular; petals 5; standard enclosed by the wings in the bud; keel 

 larger than the wings. Stamens 10, distinct, declined; anthers all alike, short, versatile, 

 longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary short-stipitate; ovules oo . Pod linear-oblong or oblong, 

 flat, margined along the upper suture, 2-valved at maturity, the valves thin, reticulate-veined. 

 [Ancient name of the Old World Judas-tree.] 



About 5 species, natives of North America, Eu- 

 rope and temperate Asia. 



i. Cercis Canadensis I,. Red-bud. 

 American Judas-tree. (Fig. 2033.) 



Cercis Canadensis It. Sp. PI. 374. 1753. 



A tree, with greatest height of about 50 and 

 trunk diameter of i, or often shrubby. Stipules 

 membranous, small, caducous; leaves simple, 

 petioled, cordate-orbicular, blunt-pointed, rather 

 thick, glabrous, or pubescent along the veins 

 beneath, 2 / -6 / broad; flowers several together in 

 sessile umbellate clusters, appearing before the 

 leaves; pedicels slender, 4 // -i2 // long; corolla 

 pink-purple, about \" long; pod short-stalked 

 in the calyx, linear-oblong, acute at each end, 

 glabrous, 2 / ~3 / long, 6 // wide, several-seeded. 



In rich soil, southern Ontario and New Jersey 

 to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. Wood 

 hard, weak, dark reddish-brown; weight per cubic 

 foot 40 Ibs. April. 



2. CASSIA L. Sp. PI. 376. 1753. 



Herbs, shrubs, or in tropical regions trees,, with evenly pinnate leaves, and mainly (in all 

 our species) yellow flowers. Calyx-teeth nearly equal, generally longer than the tube. Co- 

 rolla nearly regular; petals 5, spreading, nearly equal, imbricated, clawed. Stamens usually 

 10, sometimes 5, often unequal and some of them imperfect; anthers all alike, or those of the 

 lower stamens larger, opening by 2 pores at the summit. Ovary sessile or stalked; ovules oo . 

 Pod flat or terete, often curved, septate or continuous between the seeds. Seeds numerous. 

 [Ancient name.] 



About 275 species, of wide distribution in warm and temperate regions, very abundant in tropi- 

 cal America. Besides the following, about 20 others occur in the southern and southwestern States. 

 Leaflets linear or oblong, numerous, 3"-io" long; plants 6'-i8' high 



Flowers 2" -4" broad, short-pedicelled; anthers 5. 



Flowers i'-iji' broad, slender- pedicelled; anthers 10. 

 Leaflets ovate, oblong or obovate, i'-2' long; plants i-5 high. 



Leaflets 6 or 4, broadly obovate. 3. C. Tora. 



Leaflets 8-18, oblong or ovate-lanceolate. 



Perennial; leaflets oblong, obtuse. 4. C. Marylandica. 



Annual; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate. 5. C. occidentalis. 



i. Cassia nictitans L,. Sensitive Pea. 

 Wild Sensitive-plant. (Fig. 2034.) 



Cassia nictitans L. Sp. PI. 380. 1753. 



Annual, erect or decumbent, branching, 

 more or less pubescent, 6 / -i5 / high. Stip- 

 ules subulate-linear, persistent; leaves peti- 

 oled, sensitive, bearing a small gland near 

 the base of the petiole; leaflets 12-44, linear- 

 oblong, obtuse and mucronate at the apex, 

 rounded and oblique at the base, inequilat- 

 eral, $"-&" long, i // -i^ // wide; flowers 2-3 

 together in the axils, short-pedicelled, 2 // -4 // 

 broad; calyx-lobes acute or acuminate; sta- 

 mens 5, all perfect; pod linear, nearly glabrous, 

 or pubescent, i'-i >' long, 2'-2% f wide. 



In dry soil, Maine to Georgia, west to Indiana 

 Kansas and Texas. Southern plants usually 

 have more numerous leaflets than northern. 

 July-Oct. 



1. C. nictitans. 



2. C. Chamaecrista. 



