LEGUMINOSAE 255 



45. CANTHAROSPERMUM Wight & Arnott 



Slender twining herbs with 3-foliolate leaves which are gland-dotted 

 beneath. Flowers axillary, solitary or racemed. Calyx-teeth distinct, 

 longer or shorter than the tube. GoroUa exserted, the keel not beaked. 

 Stamens diadelphous. Ovary sessile, with 3 or more ovules; style glabrous. 

 Pod oblong, somewhat turgid, marked with transverse lines or, depressions 

 between the seeds. (Greek name for a beetle, and "seed" from the scarab- 

 like joints' of the pods.) 



Species about 25, India to Mauritius and Australia, 2 in the Philippines. 

 Petals deciduous; leaflets 1.5 to 3 cm long; pods less than 3 cm long. 



1. C. soarabaeoidea 

 Petals marcescent; leaflets 3 to 9 cm long; pods 5 to 7 cm long.. 2. C. volubile 



1. C. scarabaeoides (L.) Baill. (Atyloaia scarabaeoides Benth.y. 



A slender, herbaceous, trailing or twining, more or less pubescent vine 

 reaching a length of 2 m or less. Leaflets obovate-oblong to oblong, obtuse, 

 1 to 4 cm long, gray-pubescent on both surfaces. Racemes or corymbs short, 

 few-flowered. Flowers yellow, about 1 cm long, the calyx pubescent. Pod 

 oblong, straight, 2 cm long or less, covered with spreading brown hairs, 

 containing 3 to 5 seeds, distinctly depressed between the saeds. 



In open grass lands and thickets, San Pedro Macati, Pasay, etc., occa- 

 sional, fl. Oct.-March; widely distributed in the Philippines, possibly intro- 

 duced. India to Madagascar, China, Malaya, and the Marianne Islands. 



2. C. volubile (Blanco) Merr. (Atyloaia crassa Prain). 



A scandent herbaceous vine of indefinite length, more or less pubescent. 

 Leaflets rhomboid-ovate, acuminate,, base slightly cordate, the lateral ones 

 somewhat oblique, ' 3 to 9 cm long. Racemes axillary, few-flowered, 3 to 8 

 cm long, th^ bracteoles ovate to oblong-ovate, green, deciduous, up to 2 cm in 

 length. Flowers yellow, about 2 cm long, the calyx-teeth acuminate. Pods 

 oblong, villous, 4 to 5 cm long, about 1.3 cm wide, containing from 4 to 6 

 seeds. 



In thickets, San Juan del Monte, rare, fl. Nov.-Jan. ; widely distributed in 

 the Philippines, but not common ; India to Indo-China and Malaya. 



46. CAJANUS DeCandolle 



An erect branched shrub or suffrutescent herb. Leaves 3-foliolate. 

 Flowers racemed. Calyx-tube campanulate, the teeth short. Corolla much 

 exserted, the petals equal in length, the keel truncate. Stamens diadel- 

 phous. Ovary few-ovuled; style long, filiform. Pod linear, straight, nar-. 

 rowed at both ends, 3- to 5-seeded, with oblique depressions between the 

 seeds. (From its Malabar name.) 



A monotypic genus. 



1. C. CAJAN (L.) Merr. (C. indicu^ Spreng.). Caguips (Tag.). 



An erect, branched, pubescent, shrubby plant 1 to 2 m high. Leaflets 



3. oblong-lanceolate to oblanceolate, acuminate, 3 to 10 cm long, grayish 

 beneath when dry. Inflorescence axillary, of few-flowered, corymbose, 

 peduncled racemes, 3 to 7 cm long. Flowers yellow, about 1.5 eta long. 

 Pods 4 to 7 cm long, about 1 cm wide, pubescent, prominently acuminate, 

 obliquely snlcate between the 2 to 7 seeds. (Fl. Filip. pi. 167.) 



Cultivated for its edible seeds, fl. Dec-Apr.; widely distributed in 

 the Philippines, cultivated and subspontaneous, but certainly introduced. 

 Tropics of the world, probably a native of India. 



