300 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



flowered, sometimes 1 -lateral, cymes (?) ; bracts and bractlets small 

 persistent {West Indies, Nicaragua 1 ). 



137. Pictetia DC. 2 — Calyx gamosepalous ; lobes 5, unequal, 2 

 superior short obtuse ; 3 inferior longer acute. Petals shortly un- 

 guiculate ; standard suborbicular ; wings oblique ; keel a little 

 shorter than wings, obtuse. Stamens 10, 2-adelphous (9-1) ; an- 

 thers uniform. Grermen stipitate ; ovules oo ; style slender glabrous ; 

 apex minutely capitate, stigmatiferous. Legume stipitate, oblong 

 or broadly linear, compressed, scarcely jointed or separating into 

 2-co oblong coriaceous striated segments. Seeds oblong compressed 

 exarillate. — Shrubs, glabrous ; leaves imparipinnate ; leaflets oc, mu- 

 cronate or sharp at apex, exstipellate ; petiole sometimes short ; 

 stipules usually spinescent ; flowers 3 axillary, solitary or oftener in 

 few-flowered slender racemes ; bracts and bractlets caducous 4 {Tropi- 

 cal America, West Indies'). 



138. Amicia H. B. K. fi — Calyx gamosepalous; lobes 5, very 

 unequal; 2 superior very large obtuse, 2 lateral minute, lowest 

 minute or longer than lateral lobes. Petals unguiculate ; standard 

 broadly suborbicular or obovate-oblong, emarginate erect patent; 

 wings oblique, usually shortened ; keel curved obtuse, much longer 

 than wings, usually about equal to standard. Stamens J ; either 

 1-adelphous, filaments connate into a sheath cleft above ; or 2-adel- 

 phous (9-1); anthers uniform. 7 Germen subsessile ; ovules oo, 

 usually few ; style slender arched ; apex minutely stigmatiferous. 

 Legume linear arched compressed ; segments nearly square. Seeds 

 reniform exarillate. — Shrubs or undershrubs, glabrous or glandular ; 

 branches flexuous ; leaves paripinnate pauci- (usually 2-) jugate ; 

 obovate or obcordate ; stipules large foliaceous, often connate at 



1 Plt/m., ed. Buem., t. 249, fig. 1 (Ptero- compared with Corynella and Sabinea (whose 

 carpus). — Sloane, Jam., ii. 3 (Aspalat/ius). — legumes are not jointed) and carefully studied. 

 SrBENG., N. Entd., ii. 159 {Amerimmum). — 5 Species about 6. Jacq., Jlort. Schaenbr., t. 

 Benth., in (Erst. Leg. Centroamer., 13. — Bot. 237 (JEschynomene). — VahI;, Symb., t. 69 

 Mag., t. 4670.— Walp., Rep., i. 725; Ann., iv. (Robinia). — Geiseb., Cat. Plant. Cub., 73. 

 533. 6 Nov. Gen. et Spec, vi. 511, t. 600.— DC, 



2 In Ann. Sc. Nat, ser. 1, ix. 93; Mem. Prodr., ii. 315.— E>dl., Gen., n. 6594.— B. H., 

 Legum., t. 47; Prodr., ii. 314. — Endl., Gen., n. Gen., 514, n. 153. 



6591. — B. H., Gen., 514, n. 154. 1 In A. zygomeris (DC, loc. cit.) the 5 pos- 



3 Yellow. terior stamens are much smaller than the others, 



4 A genus on the one hand closely allied to and the 2 anterior are very large. 

 Ormocarpum, while, on the other, it ought to be 



