XL VII. LEGUMINOS^E. 217 



2. R. ALNIFOLIUS. L'Her. (R. franguloides. Michx.} Alder-leaved 



Buckthorn. 



Shrub erect, with unarmed branches; Ivs. oval, acuminate, serrate, pu- 

 bescent on the veins beneath ; ped. aggregate, 1-flowered ; fls. mostly pentan- 

 drous ; cat. acute; sty. 3, united, very short ; fr. turbinate, black. A shrub 2 4f 

 high, common in rough pastures and hills, Penn. to Can. Leaves 1 3' long, 

 J as wide, acute at base. Flowers mostly apetalous. Berries about as large 

 as currants, black, 3-seeded. May, Jn. 



2. CEANOTHUS. 



Calyx tubular, campanulate, 5-cleft. separating transversely after 

 flowering ; petals 5, saccate-arched, with long claws ; stamens mostly 

 exserted ; style mostly 3-cleft ; capsule obtusely triangular, 3-celled, 

 3-seeded, surrounded at base by the persistent tube of the calyx. 

 Shrubby and thornless. 



1. C. AMERICANTJS. Jersey Tea. Red-root. 



L/vs. oblong-ovate, serrate, 3- veined; panicles axillary, elongated. A 

 small shrub, with a profusion of white blossoms, found in woods and groves, U. 

 S. Very abundant on the barrens at the West. Stems 2 4f high, slender, 

 with reddish, round, smooth branches. Leaves thrice as long as broad, very 

 downy, with soft hairs beneath. Flowers minute, white, in crowded panicles 

 from the axils of the upper leaves. Stamens enclosed in the curiously vaulted 

 corolla. The root, which is large and red, is sometimes used for coloring. 

 The leaves have been used as a substitute for tea. Jn. 



2. C. OVALIS. Bw. Oval-leaved Ceanothus. 



Lies, oval-lanceolate, with glandular serratures, 3-veined, veins pubescent 

 beneath ; thyrse corymbose, abbreviated. Burlington, Vt, Bobbins, W. to Mich. 

 Shrub 2 3f high. Leaves smooth and shining, 1 3' long, as wide, most- 

 ly acute at each end, crenately serrate, the serratures tipped with black, glan- 

 dular points. Thyrse short, almost hemispherical, !' diam. Flowers white, 

 larger than those of the last. May. 



ORDER XL VII. LEG-UMINOS.3E. LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees. Lvs. alternate, usually compound, ^margins entire. 

 Stipules 2, at the tumid base of the petiole. Stipels commonly 2. 

 Cal. Sepals generally 5, more or less united, often unequal. 

 Cor. Petals 5, either papilionaceous or regular, perigynous. 

 Sta. diadelphous, monadelphous or distinct. Anthers versatile. 

 Ova. superior, single and simple. Style and stigma simple. 



Fr. a legume, either continuous (1-celled), or (a lament) jointed into 1-seeded cells. 

 Sds. solitary or several, destitute of albumen. 



The genera and species of this vast order were estimated by Mr. Bentham, in 1845, as follows 

 Suborder 1. Papilionaceae, 350 genera, 4800 species. 



2. Cffisalpineae, 88 ' 700 ' 



3. Mimoseae, 29 1000 ' 



Total, 467 " 6500 " 



Geography. The Leeuminoseae are distributed throughout all lands, with the exception of a few 

 unimportant islands, from the equator to either of the frigid zones. Of its 6500 species now known, about 

 350 are natives of the United States and Territories. 



Properties. No family of the vegetable kingdom possesses a higher claim to the attention of the 

 naturalist than the Leguminosae. whether we regard them as objects of ornament or utility. Of the 

 former we might mention the splendid varieties of Cersis, with their purple flowers, the Acacias, with 

 their airy foliage and silky stamens, the pride of India, Colutea and Cassalpina, with a host of others, 

 which, like the sweet pea, are redolent with perfume. Of the latter, the beans, peas, lentils, clover and 

 lucerne, are too well known to require particular commendation. Among timber trees the Rosewood (a 

 Brazilian species of Mimosa), the Laburnum, whose wood is durable and of an olive -green color, and the 

 locust (Robinia) of our own country, are pre-eminent. 



The following are a few of the important officinal products of this order. In medicine : liquorice is the 

 product of the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra of S. Europe. The purgative senna consists of the leaves of 

 Cassia senna, C. acutifolia, C. JEthiopica and other species of Egypt and Arabia. C. Marylandica is also 

 a cathartic, but more mild than the former. The sweet pulp tamarind, is the product of a large and 

 beautiful tree (Tamarindus Indica) of the E. and W. Indies. Resins and balsams : Gum Senegal is 

 yielded by Acacia Verek of the river Senegal; Gum Arabic, by several species of Acacia of Central 

 Africa : Gum Tragacynth, by Astragalus verus, &c., of Persia. Balsam Copaiva is the product of 

 several species of Copaifera, natives of Brazil and W. India ; Balsam Tolu of Myospermum toluiferum, 

 of Peru, and balsam Peru of M. peruiferum of the same country. Dyes, &c. : Indigo, the most valuable 

 of all, (buta violent poison,) is the product of several southern species of Indigofera, as I. anil of the W. 

 Indies, and I. argentea of Egypt. Brazil-wood, from Csesalpina Braziliensis. Log-wood, from Haematoxy- 

 ion Campeachianum.of Campeachy, and Red-sandal-woodfrom Pterocarpus santalinus of Egypt, &c.,&c. 



