Order 45.— LBGUMINOS^. 299 



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 from the touch of the hand. 



2. SCHRAN'KIA, Willd. Sensitive Bribe. (In lionor of i^'ranm 

 de Paula Schrank, a German botanist.) Flovirers ^ $ ;. calyx minute, 

 5-toothecl ; petals united into a funnel-shaped, 5-cIeft corolla ; stamens 

 8 to 10, distinct or monadelplious ; legume long and narrow, echinate, 

 dry, 1-celled, 4-valved, many-seeded. — 2^ Prickly herbs. St. procum- 

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



S. tincin^ta Willd. St. angled, grooved; pinnas 6 to 8 pairs; Ifts. numerous, 

 minute, elliptic-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. Ifts. about 2" by 

 J". Fed. 2 to 3' long, hds. J to J' diam. Pods 2 to 4' long. May — Jl. (S. an- 

 gustata T. & G.) 



3. VACHEL'LIA, .W. and Am. Sponge Tree. Stamens very nu- 

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

 in a double row, imbedded in pulp. Otherwise as in Acacia. — Tree 

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

 in globular heads, yellow. 



V. Farnesiana W. & Arn. Pinna3 4 to 8 pairs ; Ms. 15 to 20 pairs, veiny, ob- 

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

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

 when ripe. Said to yield gum. 



4. DESMAN 'THUS, Willd. (Gr. 6eaf:,rj, a bundle, dvdog, flower.) 

 Flowers ^ or g 5 ; calyx valvate, campanulate, 5-toothed ; petals 5, 

 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. braoh^lobus Benth. Erect, smoothish; pinnas 6 to 13 pau-s, lfts. minute, 20 



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

 curved, 2 to 4-seeded, and crowded. — 'il-Along the Miss, from 111. to La. Sts. 

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



5. ACA'CIA, Necker. (Gr. dicd^u, 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-valved, 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 chiefly 

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

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



1 A. liitea Leav. Prostrate, herbaceous, minutely strigous ; stip. lance-subulate ; 

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

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

 flat, obtuse, about 6-3eeded, and raised on a slender stipe. — Prairies Pla., La. and 

 Ala. Its herbage much resembles Mimosa strlgillosa, except the stipules. Pods 

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



2 A. Julibr^ssln Willd. Tree glabrous, unarmed; pinnx 8 to 12 pairs, lfts. 20 

 to 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, with purplish stamens. Pods large, pointed at both ends, contracted be' 

 tween the seeds. 



