LEGUMINOSjE. 61 



trees of great beauty or use, or both ; some yield important dye- 

 stuffs ; some are poisonous, while most have a wholesome char- 

 acter. Some are tonic, or stimulant, or astringent, or emetic, 

 vesicatory, or cathartic, &c. Several yield important gums, bal- 

 sams, extracts. About 280 genera belong to the order, and con- 

 tain within the torrid zone 1602 species, and north of the torrid 

 zone, 1312 species, and south of the tropic, 524 species. Many 

 of the most interesting, are unknown in temperate climates ; 236 

 species are ascribed by Torrey to North America. All our 

 plants of this order, have papilionaceous flowers ; calyx with dis- 

 tinct divisions ; and stamens around the pistil. Many are beautiful. 



Amphicarpa. Ell. 15. 10. 

 A. monoica. Nutt. Pea Vine. Has a hairy, twining, slender 

 stem, and purple flowers ; leaves ternate, with ovate leafets ; the 

 racemes of petalous flowers are sterile, and the radical apetalous 

 flowers fertile ; woods, July. 



Apios. Ph. 15. 10. 

 A. tuberosa. Moench. Ground-nut. A twining plant, often 

 many feet long, with leaves pinnate, having 5-7 leafets ; keel 

 of the corolla falcate ; flowers in racemes, dense, axillary, dark- 

 purple ; root tuberous, pleasant to the taste, raw or roasted ; 

 blossoms in July ; woods. When the seeds have fallen from 

 their capsules, the opened and colored fruit-vessels have a 

 beautiful appearance, and are sometimes used with ground pine 

 in decorations. 



Baptisia. Vent. 10. 1. 



B. tinctoria. Br. Wild Indigo. Stem 2-3 feet high, 

 very branching, very smooth, with ternate leaves ; calyx 2-lipped, 

 stamens deciduous, flowers 5-petalled, nearly equal, in racemes ; 

 in drying, the plant turns black, or rather blue ; woods, in a light 

 soil ; July. Astringent, antiseptic, emetic, cathartic. 



Cassia. L. 10. 1. 



Sepals scarcely united ; stamens 10, free, unequal in length, 

 and the 3 upper ones abortive ; 5 unequal petals. 



