p/iaseolus.] Leguminoscs. J I 



stip. linear, subulate, persistent, lflts. 1^-21 in., oblong-ovate 

 or oblong-lanceolate, acute, glabrous on both sides, readily 

 disarticulating ; fl. over 1 in., nearly sessile, usually in pairs 

 distantly placed on elongated erect, rigid, spike-like racemes 

 12-18 in. long, bracts long, setaceous; cal. pubescent, segm. 

 aristate shorter than tube ; standard shorter than wings ; pod 

 3-4 in. by § in., nearly cylindrical, straight, sharply beaked, 

 somewhat silvery with adpressed white hairs ; seeds about 20, 

 small, quadrate-reniform, dull dark brown. 



Low country, common ; a weed in waste ground. Fl. Jan., July, &c. ; 

 dull purplish-red. 



Also in India, Malaya, and Trop. America. 

 This looks like an introduction in Ceylon. 



4. P. trilobus, Ait. Hort. Kew. iii. 30 (1789). Bin-m£, S. 

 Narippayaru, T. 



Moon Cat. 52. Thw. Enum. 90. C. P. 1474 (pt.). 

 Fl. B. Ind. ii. 201. Wight, Ic. t. 94. 



Perennial with a woody rootstock giving off very numerous, 

 long, prostrate, wiry, slender, glabrous stems, not at all 

 twining ; 1. small, rachis 1-1 \ in., stip. peltately attached, 

 large, oval, acute or obtuse, lflts. |-| in., stalked, rhomboid- 

 rotundate, obtuse, apiculate, glabrous, often 3-lobed with the 

 middle lobe broader and spathulate ; fl. small, very shortly 

 stalked, 2 or 3 together at the end of stiff slender peduncle 

 2-5 in. long and much exceeding L, bracts ovate, acute ; cal.- 

 segm. short, deltoid ; pod small, i-i^ in., narrowly linear, 

 slightly compressed, straight, glabrous ; seeds 6-12, very 

 small, cylindrical, truncate at ends, dark brown. 



Dry region, common; also on the seashore. Fl. Feb., Sept., &c. ; 

 yellow. 



Also throughout India, Malay Is., and E. Trop. Africa. 



This may be cultivated as a pulse in the dry districts to a small extent. 



5. P. aconitifolius,/^. Obs. Bot. iii. 2 (1768). 

 C. P. 1474 (part). 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 202. Duthie, Crops N.W. Prov. t. ii. 



Annual or perennial, stems as in the last, but usually 

 longer and copiously covered with spreading or reflexed hairs ; 

 lflts. larger, always deeply cut into 3 narrow lobes, hairy 

 beneath, stip. small, oblong, obtuse ; fl. as in P. trilobus, 

 bracts lanceolate- oblong, acute, setaceous; pod 1-2 in., 

 usually rough with few adpressed hairs ; seeds 8-14, rather 

 larger than in the last. 



Dry region; rather common. Jaffna; Batticaloa; Bintenne; Kanta- 

 lai ; Blbile. Fl. Jan., August, &c, yellow. 

 Also in Peninsular India. 



