Oeder 46.— LEGUMINOS^. 2f 9 



a foot high. Lfta about 3" long, very numerous. Fls. small, capitate. It is oc- 

 casionally cultivated for the curiosity of its spontaneous motions ; — the leaves bend- 

 ing, folding, and apparently shrinking away fi-om the touch of the hand. 



2. SCHRAN'KIA, Willd. Sensitive Brier. (In honor of /'raraa.^ 

 de Paula Schrank, a German botanist.) Flowers g $ ; calyx minute, 

 6-toothecl; petals united into a funnol-shaped, 5-cleft corolla; stamonp, 

 8 to 10, distinct or monadelphous ; legume long and narrow, echinato, 

 dry, 1-celIed, 4-valved, many-seeded. — 2^ Prickly herbs. St. procuri>- 

 bent Lvs. sensitive, bipinnate. Fls. in spherical heads, purplish. 



S. uncindta Willd. St angled, grooved; pinna; 6 to 8 pairs; Ifts. numerous, 

 minute, elliptio-oblong or linear; hds. axillary, 1 to 2 together, on peduncles 

 shorter than the lvs. ; leg. long and slender, very prickly. — Dry soils, Clark Co., 

 Mo. (Mead), and Southern States. St 2 to 4f long, and with the petioles and pe- 

 duncles armed with short, sharp prickles turned downwards. Lfts. about 2" by 

 i". Fed. 2 to 3' long, hds. } to J' tiiam. Pods 2 to 4' loug. May— JL (S. an- 

 gustata T. & G.) 



3. VACHEL'LIA, W. and Arn. Sponge Tree. Stamens very nii- 

 merous, distinct; legume cylindrical, turgid, scarcely dehiscent; seeds 

 in a double row, imbedded in pulp. Otherwise as in Acacia. — Ti-ec 

 armed with straight, stipular spines. Lvs. bipinnate, with a gland. Fls. 

 in globular heads, yellow. 



v. Farnesiina W. & Arn. Pinnas i to 8 pairs; lfts. 15 to 20 pairs, veiny, ob- 

 long, crowded; ped. 2 or 3 together. — Grows about N. Orleans (Hale) and alonR 

 the Gulf to St. Marks, Fla. Lfts. about 2" loug. Pods 2 to 3" long, blackish 

 when ripe. Said to yield gum. 



4. DESMAN'THUS, Willd. (Gr. detrp), a bundle, dvOog, flower.) 

 Flowers ^ ov ^ $ ; caly.x valvate, campanulate, 5-toothed ; petals 6, 

 distinct; stamens 5 or 10, distinct; legume dry, flat, 2-valved, 4 to 

 6-seeded, smooth. — Herbs with bipinnate lvs. and white fls. in axillary, 

 pedunculate heads. Stip. setaceous. Petioles with one or more glands. 

 D. brach^lobus Benth. Erect, smoothish; pinna; 6 to 13 pairs, lfts. minute, 20 



to 30 pairs; fls. all perfect, pentandrous; pods short (1' long), oblong, somewhat 

 curved, 2 to 4-seeded, and crowded. — T^- Along the Miss, from IU. to La. Stt 

 striate, 1 to 3f high. Jn. — Aug. (Darlingtonia braohyloba and glandulosa DC.) 



5. ACA'CIA, Necker. (Gr. dKa'^w, to sharpen ; alluding to the spines.) 

 Flowers polygamous ; calyx valvate, 4 to 5-toothed ; petals 4 or 5, united 

 below, rarely distinct ; stamens 8 to 200 ; legume continuous, not 

 jointed, dry, 2-va!ved, many-seeded. — Trees, shrubs or herbs, spineless, 

 or with stipular spines. Lvs. (in the N. Am. species) bipinnate. Fls. 

 in heads or spiked. (This is a large and ornamental genus of chieflv 

 tropical plants, much cultivated in the greenhouse. In many of thcna 

 the leaflfets disappear and phyllodia (§ 307) take their places.) 



X A. ICitea Leav. Prostrate, herbaceous, minutely strigous ; stip. lance-subulate ; 

 pinnee 3 to 5 pairs, lfts. 12 to 20 pairs, very small (2" long); hds. oblong-oylindric. 

 the peduncles longer than the leaves; fls. yellow, decandrous; pods broad aiu; 

 flat, obtuse, about 6-seeded, and raised on a slender stipe. — Prairies Fla., La. an(.' 

 Ala. Its herbage much resembles Mimosa strigillosa, except the siipules. Poda 

 1 to 2' long, 8" wide, the stipe about 6''. Lvs. ciliate, sensitive, with no glands. 



2 A. Julibrdssfci "Willd. IVee glabrous, unarmed ; pinnae 8 to 1 2 pairs, lfts. 20 

 1o 30, halved, acute, inequilateral ; gland depressed at the base of the petiole ; hds. 

 pedunculate, forming a terminal panicle ; stam. numerous, long, exserted. — A very 

 ornamental tree cultivated and sparingly naturalized in the Gulf States. Corollas 

 white, witli purplish stamens. Pods large, pointed at both ends, contracted be- 

 tweou the seeds. 



