FABACEAE. 179 



3. Crotalaria pumila Ortega, Hort. Matr. 23. 1797. 



Perennial, woody below, finely pubescent or glabrate, branched, the slender 

 branches decumbent or ascending, 1-9 dm. long. Stipules 1-2 mm. long, 

 deciduous, subulate; petioles very slender, 0.5-2 cm. long; leaflets 3, oblong, 

 oblanceolate or obovate, thin, 5-15 mm. long, rounded or emarginate at the apex, 

 narrowed or cuneate at the base, glabrous above, more or less pubescent 

 beneath; racemes few-flowered, mostly terminal, much longer than the leaves; 

 pedicels slender, 2-5 mm. long; calyx 5-cleft to about the middle, the lobes 

 acute or acuminate; petals yellow, the standard 7-9 mm. long, twice as long as 

 the calyx, the keel with a short horizontal beak ; pod oblong, sessile, 10-15 mm. 

 long, about 5 mm. thick. 



Pine and palmetto-lands, Abaco, Great Bahama, Andros, New Providence, 

 Eleuthera, Cat Island, Watling's Island, Great Guana Cay, Exuma and Crooked 

 Island : Florida ; Cuba ; Hispianola ; St. Kitts to Barbadoes ; Jamaica ; Mexico to 

 Venezuela. Low RATTLEBOX. 



4. Crotalaria incana L. Sp. PI. 716. 1753. 



Annual or biennial, herbaceous, usually branched, 1.3 m. high or less, the 

 branches, petioles and racemes densely pubescent. Stipules subulate, 5 mm. 

 long or less, deciduous, or wanting; petioles 2-8 cm. long; leaflets 3, obovate, 

 oval or obovate-orbicular, short-stalked, 1-5 cm. long, thin, obtuse and often 

 mucronulate at the apex, obtuse or narrowed at the base, pubescent beneath, 

 glabrate above; racemes terminal, long-peduncled, several-flowered; calyx- 

 segments lanceolate, acuminate, 7-9 mm. long; corolla yellow or greenish- 

 yellow, 10-13 mm. long; pods oblong, pendent, pubescent, 2-3.5 cm. long, about 

 1 cm. thick. 



Waste and cultivated grounds, New Providence and Hog Island : southern 

 United States; West Indies and continental tropical America north to Mexico; 

 Old World tropics. VELVETY RATTLEBOX. 



5. Crotalaria lotifolia L. Sp. PI. 715. 1753. 



Shrubby, branched, 6 dm.-2 m. high, slender and sometimes vine-like and 

 up to 3 m. long, the branches and petioles appressed-pubescent. Stipules 

 minute, deciduous; petioles slender, 2-6 cm. long; leaflets 3, oblong to elliptic, 

 thin, 1-4 cm. long, obtuse at the apex, mostly narrowed at the base, short- 

 stalked, silky-pubescent or glabrate beneath, usually glabrous above; racemes 

 axillary, short-peduncled, few-flowered, as long as the leaves or shorter; calyx- 

 segments lanceolate, acuminate, 5-7 mm. long; corolla yellow, about twice as 

 long as the calyx, the standard reddish veined; pod narrowly oblong, beaked, 

 2-3 cm. long, about 6 mm. thick, finely appressed-pubescent. 



Open scrub-lands, New Providence and Eleuthera : Cuba to Anegada and 

 Barblfdoes ; Jamaica. Reported from tropical Africa. BUSHY RATTLEBOX. 



Dolley reports Crotalaria stipularis Desv. from the Bahamas ; Mr. Brace has not 

 seen the species nor have our collectors returned it from the archipelago. 



4. TBIFOLIUM L. Sp. PI. 764. 1753. 



Herbs, with mostly 3-foliolate (occasionally 4-11-foliolate) denticulate 

 leaves, the flowers in dense heads or spikes. Stipules adnate to the petiole. 

 Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Petals commonly persistent, their claws adnate to 

 the stamen-tube. Stamens diadelphous, or the tenth one separate for only a 

 portion of its length. Ovary few-ovuled. Pod often included in the calyx, 

 membranous, indehiscent or tardily dehiscent by 1 suture, 1-6-seeded. [Latin, 

 referring to the 3 leaflets.] About 275 species, most abundant in the north 

 temperate zone. Type species: Trifolium pratense L. 



Flowers white or pinkish, pedicelled. 1. T. repens. 



Flowers red, sessile or very nearly so. 2. T. pratense. 



