318 TlMEHRI. 



kinds have rounded, trefoil or shamrock-like leaflets, 

 and seldom more than four joints in a full pod. A 

 comparison of one of these little blossoms with the 

 flower of any of the peas or beans to be found in our 

 gardens, will show that they are constructed on the 

 same general plan, representing the type not inaptly 

 called Papilionaceous^ or butterfly-like flowers. In these 

 the petals, or flower-leaves, are variously shaped, mainly 

 to accommodate the inse6l allies on whose visits the suc- 

 cessful setting of their seed depends. In the typical 

 form the broad upper petal is generally erect and con- 

 spicuously coloured, and is called the standard ; the two 

 side petals, sometimes spreading, more often folded over 

 the lower pair, are known as wings ; and the two lowest, 

 often partially united, form a sort of boat or keel, con- 

 taining the fruiting organs. The fruit of such flowers is 

 almost always a pod, as they belong to the important order 

 of Leguminosas or pod-bearers, which furnish us with a 

 host of useful products, from the gum on our pos- 

 tage stamps to the timber of the lofty mora. As 

 the papilionaceae are frequent and characteristic plants 

 here, and easily recognised by the shape of their flowers 

 and their unmistakeable pods, they will form a convenient 

 group to examine first. 



To begin with the yellow kinds ; among the most con- 

 spicuous are the upright spikes of bright yellow flowers 

 belonging to the rattle-wort or bisi-bisi (Crotalaria 

 retusa), frequent on banks and open grass land. It has 

 undivided leaves and grows from one to two feet high. 

 As it is the only papilionaceous plant near town with 

 these stiffly erect flowering spikes, it cannot be mistaken, 

 even if the pods are not ripe'enough to give the hissing 



