Desmodium. • LEGUMINOS^. 179 



7. Desmodium viridiflorum, Beck. Velvet-leaved Desmodium. 



Stem erect, densely pubescent, a little rough towards the summit ; leaflets ovate, mostly 

 obtuse, rough above, velvety tomentose underneath ; stipules ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 rather persistent ; panicle elongated, naked ; upper lip of the calyx slightly bifid ; legume of 

 3-4 roundish-triangular very hispid joints. — Beck, bot. p. 83 ; Darlingt. jl. Cest. p. 415, 

 (not of DC.) ; Torr. <^ Gr.fi. N. Am. 1. p. 360. Hedysarum viridiflorum, Linn. sp. 1055 ; 

 Ell. sk. 2. p. 217 (not of Willd.). 



Stem 3-4 feet high, rather stout, paniculately branched. Leaflets 2-3 inches long, of a 

 thick and firm texture ; the under surface usually clothed with a very dense soft pubescence, 

 but sometimes rather hairy than velvety : common petiole about one-fourth the length of the 

 leaflets. Panicle with few rather short branches. Bracts very small, shorter than the flower- 

 buds. Lowest tooth of the calyx elongated. Corolla violet-purple, turning greenish soon after 

 it is fully expanded. Legume about three-fourths of an inch long ; the joints convex above, 

 rounded and very obtusely angular below. 



Sandy copse on the borders of a small wood about half a mile from the South Ferry, 

 Brooklyn, Long Island ; also borders of Harlem river from Manhattanville to Kingsbridge, 

 on the Island of New-York. Latter part of July --September. 



8. Desmodium Marilandicum, Boott: Smooth Small-leaved Desmodium. 



Stem erect, simple, slender, nearly smooth ; leaflets (small) ovate, very obtuse, often 

 slightly cordate, thin ; petiole as long as the lateral leaflets, smooth ; stipules lanceolate- 

 subulate, caducous ; panicle elongated ; bracts lanceolate-ovate, very small i pedicels 2-3 

 times as long as the flower ; legume with 2 — 3 hispid, somewhat semiorbicular joints. — 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 412 ; Torr. <^ Gr. fl. N. Am. \.p. 362. D. obtusum, DC. prodr. 2. 

 p. 329 ; Beck, bot. p. 84. Hedysarum Marilandicum, Linn. sp. 2. p. 748 (excl. syn. Dill.), 

 not of Willd., Muhl., <^c. H. obtusum, Willd. sp. 3. p. 1190?; Pursh,,fi. 2. p. 482 ; Ntttt. 

 gen. 2. p. 109 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 212. 



Stem 2-3 feet high, smooth, except near the summit, which is often a little rough. Leaves 

 about three-fourths of an inch in length, the lower ones broader and often nearly round ; 

 petioles slender. Stipules usually falling very early. Pedicels filiform, 5 — 8 lines long. 

 Flowers small, violet-purple, becoming greenish in withering. Calyx smooth ; upper lip 

 nearly entire, shorter than the others : lower tooth lanceolate, nearly twice as long as the 

 obtuse-triangular lateral ones. Legume half an inch long, sometimes reduced to a single 

 joint, which is then larger than usual, nearly sessile in the calyx. 



Dry hill-sides, sandy fields and borders of woods ; rather common. August. 



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