190 LfiGUMINOSJS. CaKsia,- 



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 ; also 

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



§2. Lasiorhegma, Vogel. Slameiis \Q, or by abortion '^ - 5. Anthers all fertile, commonly of 



unequal length, linear. 



2. Cassia Cham^ciIista, 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. I. p. 262 ; Smith in Abbot, ins. Georg. t. 94 ; 

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

 fl. \.p. 439 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 503 ; Beck, bot. p. 94 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 433 ; Torr. <^ 

 Gr.jl. 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-flowered : 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 onc-lhird of an inch wide, 10 - 15- 

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



Sandy fields : Statcn 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. — Linn. hort. Cliff, t. 36 ; Michx. 

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

 p. 503 ; Beck, bot. p. 94 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 432 ; Torr. ^ Gr. 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-lanceolate, with a long acuminalion. 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 : 

 6ligrna truncate. Legume an inch and a half long, flat, clothed with appresscd hairs. 



