THE LABUENUM. 



Cy'tims Lahur'num L. 



The great family Legumino'sce, named from the pod 

 or legume, which is, almost without exception, the. 

 fruit characteristic of every member of the group, 

 is the second in point of number of species among 

 the Natural Orders of flowering plants, and perhaps 

 second also in the value to man of its various products. 

 It comprises some seven thousand species, and pulse 

 and fodder, timber, gums and dyes are yielded by its 

 members in great variety. With the exception of 

 Furze and Broom, truly British representatives of 

 the Order seldom form wood : clovers and vetches 

 constitute the majority of their number ; whilst 

 the Rosewoods, Logwood, and other large trees are 

 mainly natives of the Tropics. 



With the exception of the Judas-tree (Ger'cis 

 Siliquas'truTn L.) and the Locust or St. John's-Bread 

 (Cerato'nia Sil'iqua L.), all the European members of 

 the Order belong to the Sub-order PapUiona'cece, 

 named from the Latin papil'io, a butterfly, from the 

 supposed resemblance of their pea-like blossoms to a 

 butterfly. With the greatest variety of size and colour, 

 they all possess flowers of a singularly uniform 

 structural type. Of five sepals, the odd one is placed 

 in the front of the flower, i.e. on the side farthest from 

 the stem whence the flower-stalk springs. Of five 

 petals, which alternate with these sepals, the odd or 

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