XLV1I. 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 ; cal. 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. 

 } 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. AMERICANUS. Jersey Tea. Red-root. 



Las. 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 lor tea. Jn. 



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



Lvs. oval-lanceolate, with glandular serratures, 3- veined, veins pubescent 

 oeneath ; thyrse corymbose, abbreviated. Burlington, Vt., Robbins, 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. LEGUMINOSJE. 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 (l-celled), or (a foment) 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. Papilionacese, 350 genera, 4800 species. 



2. Csesalpineae, 88 ' 700 ' 



" 3. Mimoseaj, 29 1000 " 



Total, 467 " 6500 " 



Geography. The Leguminoseae 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 Lefuminosae. 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 Caesalpina, 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 top 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 



importa 

 glabra 



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

 Cassia senna. C. acutifolia, C. ^Ethiopica 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 sene.sal i* 

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

 Africa; Gum Trasracyrith, by Astragalus verus, &c., of Persia. Balsam Cvpaiva is the product of 

 several species of Copaifem, 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, (but a 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 Bra/.iliensis. Log-wood from Haematoxy- 

 Ion Campeachianum , of Campeachy , and Red-sandal-wood from Pterocarpm san taliiius of Egypt, &., &c. 



