218 



the keel, rather broad, oblanceolate-oblong, obtuse*; keel straight to 

 near the tip, where it curves sharply upward, the tip firm and acute ; 

 anthers of two sorts, alternately long and short, the latter on much 

 broader filaments ; ovary linear, pubescent ; style filiform, pubescent 

 nearly to the tip ; stigma small. Pods when mature 2-2tt in. 

 long, turgid, densely covered with a soft, nearly black, velvety 

 pubescence, without stinging hairs ; valves with 1 or 2 or sometimes 

 3 obscure longitudinal ridges. Seeds 3 to 5 in each pod, subglobose, 

 marbled and speckled with brown, or black, and sometimes both, on 

 ash-grey ground color (though pure grey and, it is said, pure black 

 occur rarely), about \ in. in diameter. Hilum white, oblong- 

 crateriform, less than one-half the length of the seed (Bort, I.e.). 



III. — Queensland Agric. Journ. ii. 1898, t. 28 {Mucuna pruriens 

 var. utilis) ; Kennedy, U.S. Dept. Agric. Div. of Agrostology, 

 Bull. No, 22, 1900, t. 11 ; Transv. Agric. Journ. iv. 1906, t. 73 

 {Mucuna utilis) ; Cycl. Amer. Agric. ii. f. 888 (pods) f. 889 (beans) 

 f. 890 (vines supported by corn) ; Bort, U.S. Dept. Agric. Bureau 

 PI. Industry, Bull. No. 141, pt. 3, 1909, p. 30, f. 1 (a cluster of mature 

 pods), tt. 2, 3 {Stizolobium deeringianum) ; Piper and Tracy, U.S. 

 Dept. Agric. Bureau PL Industry, Bull. No. 179, 1910, t. 2, f. B. 

 {Stizolobium deeringianum ; pod and seeds). 



Velvet Bean : Florida Velvet Bean ; Pea Banana (Queensland 

 Agric. Journ. i. Aug. 1897, p. 97) ; Field Pea (I.e.) ; Banana Stock 

 Pea (I.e.). 



Widely cultivated in warm countries for fodder — in a green state and 

 as hay, and for green manuring. It is recorded that on a 90-acre field 

 [in Florida] of Velvet Beans 300 cattle valued at 12 dollars (£2 8s.) 

 a head were turned to feed it down. The beans cost 2*50 dollars 

 (10s.) an acre to raise ; the cattle doubled in weight and cleared a 

 net profit of 3600 dollars (£720), and the 90-acre field was left rich 

 enough to grow anything without [other] manure or fertilizer 

 (Queensland Agric. Journ. xiii. 1903, p. 271). 



It is considered particularly suitable, as a fodder for young growing 

 animals and for the production of milk (Burtt-Davy, Transv. Agric. 

 Journ. iv. 1906, p. 614). 



The beans are fit only for feeding animals, for which purpose they 

 may also be ground into meal, and used like cotton-seed meal. 



May be propagated by seed, and comes to maturity in about five 

 months. Requires a hot climate, and grows well on light soil. The 

 seed should be sown in rows, about 3 feet apart each way ; about a 

 bushel will be required to sow an acre. 



The plants should be cut for hay when in flower and not later 

 than the early formation of the pods. 



The weight of green forage has been estimated at 16,680 lbs. per 

 acre (U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 78, 1898, p. 13) ; of cured 

 hay at 5953 lbs. [Florida] to 8280 lbs. [in Alabama] per acre, and 

 the yield of beans 15 to 25 bushels per acre (Burtt-Davy, I.e. p. 615). 

 In West-Florida an average yield is given as 175 bushels of shelled 

 beans per acre (Queensland Agric. Journ. xii. 1903, p. 361). 



In the Philippines good results have been obtained by planting the 

 beans in the same rows with Sorghum and Kaffir corn. The corn 

 supports the beans, until both are cut together for green forage 

 (Philippine Agric. Rev. i. Jan. 1908, p. 33). 



Support in some form, trellis or pole, is necessary. A Florida 

 farmer has used poles, 12 feet long, set 3 feet in the ground and 6 feet 



