PERKINS — THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO RICO. 199 



St. Kiu>. Vntigua (Grisebach . Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincenl 

 badoe Grisebach , Grenada, Tobago, Margarita. Native country probablj east Africa 

 Bentham . 



Local names, bejuco dt conchitas, papito. 



Two of i lie ( litoria Bpeciee found in Porto Rico are climbing plants, C. U rnatea and 

 ('. rubiginosa. The former, however, has imparipinnate Leaves, _' or 3-jugate leaflets, 

 hi ur and white resupinate flowers, and large bracteoles, while the latter hae trifoliolate 

 leaves, and a pod with a prominulous midrib, a peculiarity thai rarely occurs. 



The third Clitoria species, C. laurifolia, is an erecl shrub, with a racemose inflores- 

 cence, while the peduncle of C. tematea and C. rubiginosa has L, oral most 3, i! 

 The roots, leaves, and seeds have emetic properties and are used in popular medicines, 

 while tin- flowers are often employed to color viands and beverages blue. 



( '. tematea is widely distributed in the Tropics, and is cultivated in the glass houses 

 of colder countries on accounl of its Bhowy flowers. 



'2. Clitoria rubig-inosa Juss. 



Urban, 299. 



Stem twining; leaflets ovate-oblong, acute villous or sericeous below, 3 to 10 cm. 

 long, 1.5 t" 3 cm. broad; peduncle 3 or fewer-flowered, 4 to 13 cm. Long; flower Large, 

 purple-variegated; bracteoles ovate-oblong, 3 or 1 times exceeded by tin- calyx tube; 

 calyx 2 to 5 cm. long; calyx Lobes lanceolate, acuminate, almosl one-hali the Length of 

 the tube; standard 5.5 cm. long; legume 3.5 to 5 cm. long, 1 cm. wide, convex, cadi 

 valve usually with a prominenl midrib, glabrescent; seeds glob 



Near Bayamon on hedges: between Aguas Buenas ami faunas along roads; near 

 Cayey, at Campito; near Salinas de Cabo Rojo on the edge of the forests; near Maya- 

 guez, on tlie -ides of Mount Mesa: near Aguada, in the forests at Piedra Blanca. Cuba 

 (Grisebach . Jamaica (do. . Haiti. Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Vincent, Tobago, 

 Trinidad (Grisebach . Widely distributed in tropical America. 



Local name, flor <li pit<>. 



3. Clitoria laurifolia Poir. 



111. an. 300.1 



Stem erect, herbaceous, pubescent, 30 to 60 cm. high: leaflets 3, oblong, rarely more 

 than 7.5cm. long: apex very obtuse, ret use. or emarginate, pubescenl beneath; pedun- 

 cle 1 or2-flowered; bracteoles ovate, much exceeded by the calyx: flowers white: calyx 

 about 2.4 to 2.8 cm. long, silky-pubescent, rarely glabrous; teeth ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute or acuminate, <>. s to l cm long, the upper more or Less connate, the Lowest Longer 

 and acuminate; corolla about •"> cm. long: legume l'.") to 6.25 cm. Long, stipitate, with a 

 prominent midrib, rarely destitute of it; seeds ovoid-glob - 



Near Bayamon in sandy soil, near Dorado in plains near the coast. Cuba, Haiti 

 (Bentham i. Trinidad. Tropical South America. 



53. CENTROSEMA Benth. 



Bradburya Rap. Fl. Ludov. KM. 1817. 



Centrosema Benth. Ann. Wien. Mus. 2: 117. L838. 



<'alyx shortly campanulate, the segments subequal, the two upper sometimi s 

 nate; standard broadly orbicular, spurred on the back over the short, arched, compli- 

 cate claw, rarely with a more <»r less distincl gibber (tubercle ; wings arcuate, obo- 

 vate; keel hardly shorter than the wings, wide, inflexed; upper stamen freeormore 



or less connate with the other-: ovary subsessile, multiovulate; style inflexed, more 



or less dilated at the apex; stigma terminal. Blightly hoarded: pod subsessile, linear. 



