Genus 50. 



PEA FAMILY. 



425 



I. Vigna sinensis (L.) Endl. Cow Pea. China Rean. Fig. 2650. 



Dolichos sinensis L. Cent. PI. 2: 28. 1756. 

 Dolichos Catjang L. Mant. i: 269. 1767. 

 Vigna Catjang Walp. Linnaea 13: 533. 1839. 

 Vigna sinensis End!.; Hassk. PI. Jav. Rar. 386. 1848. 



Annual, glabrous, or somewhat pubescent ; stem 

 twining or trailing, striate. Stipules ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, prolonged backward, 3"-io" 

 long; petioles stout, often as long as the leaflets or 

 longer; terminal leaflet rhombic-ovate, acute or blunt, 

 2'-6' long, often about as wide, long-stalked ; lateral 

 leaflets very obliquely ovate and inequilateral, about 

 as large as the terminal one, short-stalked ; flowers 

 few near the knotty ends of the long peduncles, 8"-io" 

 long; pod fleshy, 4'-7' long, 3"-4" thick, nearly 

 straight ; seeds with a dark circle around the scar 

 of attachment. 



Escaped from cultivation, Missouri to Texas and Geor- 

 gia. Native of Asia, and called chowley, towcok. Seeds 

 edible. Black-eyed bean. July-Sept. 



Vigna repens (L.) Kuntze, a smaller vine with much 

 shorter pods, widely distributed in tropical America, has 

 been found in ballast about New York. 



Family 6i. GERANIACEAE J. St. Hil. Expos. Fam. 2: 51. 1805. 



Geranium Family. 



Herbs with alternate or opposite leaves, and axillary solitary or clustered 

 perfect regular flowers. Stipules commonly present. Sepals 5 (rarely fewer), 

 mostly persistent. Petals of the same number, hypogynous. Stamens as many 

 as the sepals, or 2-3 times as many, distinct ; anthers 2-celled, versatile. Ovary 

 I, usually 5-lobed and 5-celled ; ovules i or 2 in each cavity. Fruit capsular, 

 Embryo straight or curved ; cotyledons flat or plicate. 



About 12 genera and 470 species, natives of temperate regions, most abundant in South Africa. 



Carpel-bodies turgid ; carpel-tails (styles) glabrous within, merely recoiling at maturity ; anthers 

 usually 10 (or 5 in Geranium pusilluin). 

 Carpel-bodies deciduous from the styles at maturity, each with 2 fibrous appendages near the 

 top; leaves divided. i. Robertiella. 



Carpel-bodies permanently attached to the styles, unappendaged ; leaves lobed, cleft or parted. 



2. Geranium. 

 Carpel-bodies spindle-shaped; carpel-tails (styles) pubescent within, spirally coiled at maturity; 

 anthers 5. 3. Erodium. 



1. ROBERTIELtA Hanks ; Hanks & Small, N. A. FI. 25^ : 3. 1907. 



[RoBEETiUM Picard, Mem. Soc. Agric. Boulogne II. i : 99. 1837. Not Rohcrtia Scop. 1777.] 



Herbs with 3-divided leaves, the divisions 1-2-pinnatifid, and axillary 2-flowered pedun- 

 cles. Flowers regular. Sepals 5, awn-tipped. Petals 5. glabrous, each with a slender claw 

 and a broad blade. Stamens 10; filaments glabrous. Ovary 5-lobed. 5-celled, the style- 

 column beaked. Ovules 2 in each cavity. CTapsule separating into 5 carpels, the bodies 

 deciduous from the styles at maturity, each bearing 2 fibrous appendages near the top. 

 [Diminutive of Robertiiim.] 



Two known species of north temperate regions, the following typical. 



