806 LEaUMINSOM. [Neptunia. 



Pod indehiscent. A 

 small thorny tree . 68. Pbosopis. 



Upper flowers of spikes 

 2-sexual, the lower 



neuter . . .69. Dichrostachys. 



Anthers not gland-tipped (Tribe XIV. 



EUMIMOSE^). 



Pod continuous, opening through 

 the sutures . . . .70. Leuc^na, 



Pod with separating joints, 

 sutures persistent . . .71. Mimosa. 



Stamens indefinite. 

 Filaments free (Trihe XV. Acacie^) . 72. Acacia. 



Filaments united (Tribe XVI. Inge^) 73. Albizzia. 



65. NEPTUNIA, Lour, ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 285. 



Herbs without prickles. Leaves bipinnate, with persistent stipules 

 and numerous small strap-shaped sensitive membranous leaflets. 

 i^/owe»*s minute, dimorphous, in dense heads on axillary peduncles, 

 polygamous, those of the lower part of the head bearing only pro- 

 truded flattened staminodes. Calyx minute, campanulate, o-toothed. 

 Petals 5, strap-shaped, connate near the base. Stamens of the 

 perfect flowers exserted ; anthers gland -crested. Ovary stalked, 

 many-ovuled ; style filiform ; stigma club-shaped. JPod coriaceous, 

 flattened, ligulate or oblong, 2-valved. — Species 8, cosmopolitan in 

 the ropics. 



Stems prostrate, sterile flowers nume- 

 rous . . . . . . . 1. N. oleracea. 



Stems ascending, sterile flowers few or 2. N. triquetra. 



1. N. oleracea. Lour. Fl. Cochin., 654 ; D. ^ G. Bomb. Fl. 84 ; F. B. I. 



ii, 285 ; Watt E.D. Mimosa natans, Roxh. ; Fl. Ind. ii, 553. Desmanthus 

 natans, Willd. ; W. 8f A. Frod. 270. Vern. Laj-dlu. 



An aquatic herb, with stout widely creeping or floating stems rooting at 

 the nodes rarely emitting suberect branches. Finnce 4i-6, 2-3 in. long; 

 rachis without glands ; stipules obliquely cordate ; leaflets S-15 pairs, 

 3-i in. long, narrowly oblong, obtuse, glabrous. Peduncles ascending, 

 3-12 in., glabrous ; bracts small, ovate, subobtuse. Flowers minute, in 

 dense heads, the lower replaced by numerous ligulate yellow stami- 

 nodes. Pod |-1 in., obliquely oblong, beaked, dehiscinp- early by the 

 upper suture, 6-8-seeded. 



In swamps and slow-flowing streams. Disteib. Throughout India, 

 and in Ceylon and the Malay Penins. ; cosmopolitan in the tropics. 



