PERKINS THE LEGUMINOSAE OF PORTO BICO. zUS 



I . Mucuna urena I . DC. 

 I I rban, 303. 1 



Shin woody. Blender, wide climbing; Leaflets 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long, 7.5 to 8 cm wide, 

 calyx broadly campanulate, L. 5 to 2 cm. deep; corolla with wings and keel 5 cm. or 

 more long, Btandard much Bhorter; pod LO to 20 cm. long, 3.5 to I cm. wide, armed 

 with stinging bristles. 



Near Lares in the coffee plantations a1 Juncal; near Mayaguez; near A.guada, in 

 thickets at Etosario. Cuba (Richard . Jamaica, Cayman (Fawcett . Eaiti, Guade- 

 loupe, Martinique, Tobago. Tropical America, tropical West Airica. 



Muni a, i wrens is readily distinguished from M. pruriens by its yellow flowers and 

 its long pod (over 20 cm.) which has close, broad, irregular, coriaceous, undulate lamel- 

 lations. The' seeds are very large and have a broad black band. When polished 

 they are often used for ornaments. 



The Munma species can be recommended in the Tropics as ornamental plants, but 

 M. wrens and M. pruriens must be touched with care on accounl of the hairs of the 

 pods, which have a most irritat ing effed upon t he skin. 



Local names, ojo de buey, matos, matos del monte. 



2. Mucuna pruriens i L. i DC. 

 I Urban, 303.) 



Stems herbaceous, wide-climbing; leaflets 8 to 1 I cm. long, 5 to 7 cm. wide: flowers 

 dark violet; calyx about L cm. deep; corolla 3 to 3.5 cm. deep, the standard half as l"iiu r 

 as the wings; pod 5 to 8 cm. Long, L.5 to 1.75 cm. wide densely clothed with brown 

 silky bristles. 



Near Annas Buenas on the brook near the town; near Juncos, at Valenziano Arriba 

 climbing on high trees; near Guayama, in mountain woods beyond Guamani; Dear 

 Coamo, in the valley of El Fuerte River; near Penuelas, on the bank of the river 

 toward Tallaboa Alta: near Cabo Rojo in thickets: near Mayaguez, at Algarrobo; near 

 Rincon in thickets on the shore. Cuba (Grisebach), Jamaica. Cayman i Hitchcock . 

 Haiti. St. Thomas (Eggers), St. Croix (do.), St. John (do.), -Guadeloupe, Martinique, 

 St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago. Cosmopolitan in the Tropics. 



Mucuna pruriens differs markedly from M. wens in thai it has purple flowers and a 

 much smaller, longitudinally ribbed pod. 



The root and the seeds have long been valued in Easl Indian medicine, and in the 

 West Indies and in Europe the hairs were formerly considerably \\>cd medicinally. 

 The young tender pods are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. 



Local name, pica-pica (Urban); cowhage or cowitch (Cook and Collins). 



3. Mucuna altissima Jacq. \H\ 

 (Urban, 304. 



Twining; leaflets glabrous, ovate or oval-oblong, 7.5 to 1l.'."> cm. long, 2.5 to 6 cm. 

 wide, membranous; petiole slender, 7.5 to L2i5 c a. long; peduncle 30 to 120 cm. long, 

 racemes short; calyx sericeous, I- toothed; the three superior teeth small or ol — 

 lete. the inferior longer; flowers dark violet or pale flesh-colored; corolla 3.6 cm. long; 

 standard ovate-oblong, nearly as long a- the wings; beak of the keel cartilaginous, 

 bluntish, equaling the wings; legume L5cm. long, 3.7 cm. broad below it- pointed top. 

 with numerous, transverse, convex line-, compressed, spathulate, oblong, hirsute, 

 callous on the margins; seeds orbicular, compressed L.6 to i' cm. in diameter), almost 

 wholly surrounded by t lie raphe. 



