300 MR. BENTHAM ON TROPICAL LEGUMINOSÆ. 
IV. MASTERSIA, Benth. in Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. 535. 
(Tribe PHASEOLEE. Tropical Asia.) | 
b. | 1 
| t brevissime 
2 LUC 
Cuar. Gen. Calycis lobi 2 superiores in unum integrum latum connati. Vexillum 
unguiculatum, exauriculatum; ale oblique oblongæ; carina lata, leviter incurva, obtusa, alas subæquans, 
Stamen vexillare liberum, filamento filiformi a basi recto; antheræ (5? v. omnes ?) lineares, versa- 
tiles. Ovarium sessile, multiovulatum ; stylus brevis, incurvus, filiformis, imberbis, stigmate 
capitato. Legumen oblongo-lineare, plano-compressum, indehiscens, sutura superiore anguste 
subalata. Semina plurima, parva, transverse oblonga, hilo parvo laterali, funiculo filiformi.— Caulis 
alte volubilis. Folia pinnatim 3-foliolata, foliolis amplis stipellatis. Flores in pedunculis elongatis 
axillaribus fasciculato-racemosi, fasciculorum rhachi nodiformi. Bracteæ caducissimæ ; bracteolæ 
suborbiculatæ, diutius persistentes. 
The plant upon which I propose to found this genus is a large twiner, collected 
many years since by Drs. Wallich and Griffith in their joint expedition into the Assam 
tea-country. The majority of specimens are in fruit only, but a few flowering ones from 
Dr. Griffith's collection, although not in a very good state, have proved sufficient to 
complete the generie character. The affinity is evidently with Pueraria and Dioclea, 
both as to habit and the general structure of the flower; but the stamens are different, 
and the thin flat indehiscent pod and the position of the seeds are quite anomalous 
amongst Phaseolee. | 
I have dedicated the genus to Mr. Masters, after whom his friend the late Dr. Griffith, 
in testimony of his assiduous investigation of the Assam flora, had named a genus which 
afterwards proved to have been previously published under another name. We may, 
however, also consider Mustersia as commemorating the labours of Dr. T. Maxwell 
Masters, F.L.S., several of whose papers on Vegetable Teratology, as well as on Systematic 
Botany, have already appeared in the publications of our Society. Om 
The following is the detailed description of the species :— 
M. ASSAMICA, sp. n. (Plate XXXIV.) 
Caules alte volubiles, glabriusculi. Foliorum petiolus communis semipedalis; foliola late ovata, breviter 
acuminata, 3-6 poll. longa, integra, tenuiter coriacea, supra glabra, subtus pilis adpressis conspersa, 
petiolulo 2-3 lin. longo. Stipulas caducissimas non vidi ; stipellæ rigidulæ, lanceolatæ v. oblonge. 
Racemi pedales et longiores, nonnunquam prope basim folium ferentes. Florum fasciculi dissiti, 
rhachibus interdum demum paullo elongatis, vix tamen lineam attingentibus. Pedicelli graciles, 
pubescentes, 2-3 lin. longi. Bractez ad nodum quemque 2, opposite, ovate, 3-4 lin. long, preter 
cilia marginalia glabræ, longe ante anthesin caducæ. Bracteolæ suborbiculatæ, 2 lin. long. Calycis 
tubus 1 lin. longus; lobi acuti, superiores 3 lin. longi, summo latissimo, lateralibus angustis, infimus 
longior, arcuatus, carinatus. Vexillum fere 6 lin. longum; petala inferiora vix breviora. Ovarium — 
villosum. Legumen sessile, tenue sed rigidulum, glabrum, nitidum, 2-4 poll. longum, j-1 poll. 
latum. Semina plus quam 20, in medio legumine l-seriatim disposita. __ : r 
Hab. East India. Mishmee hills, and near Choonpura in Upper Assam (Wallich and Griffith)... 
V. PANUREA, Spruce, in Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. 550. 
(Tribe SopHorez. Tropical America.) 
Cumar. Gex, Calycis oblique turbinati lobi breves, lati; 2 superiores in labium bidentatum connati. Petala - 
breviter unguiculata ; vexillum suborbiculatum ; alæ oblique ovatæ ; carinæ petala libera, alis breviora 
