LEGUMES IN GENERAL 



241 



are inclosed. There are usually ten stamens, nine of 

 which are grown together a considerable part of their 

 length, forming a tube with a spHt along one side which is 

 filled by the tenth stamen. Inclosed within the stamen 

 tube is the ovary, which contains from one to many 

 ovules. The flowers may arise singly, as in the cowpea, 



Fig. 84. — Flowers of alfalfa. 



or they may be distributed along a stem, forming a raceme, 

 as in vetch, or from the end of a branch in a whorl, form- 

 ing an umbel, as in red clover, or they may be arranged 

 along a branch in a head-like cluster or spike, as in the 

 crimson clover. 



The fruit is a legume or a pod, which, when mature, 

 usually splits open along both edges. From the form of 

 the fruit the family Leguminosse gets its name. 



Another way in which the legumes are markedly dif- 



