110 



WEEDS AND LSEFUL PLANTS. 



Qiis Cassia. While some writers state, that it requires a third larger 

 dose than the imported seuna, to produce the same effect, others claim for 

 it ail equal rank as a purgative. It is cultivated to considerable extent 

 by the " Shakers," and though it has not received the general attention 

 at the hands of the medical profession that it deserves, it is frequently 

 used in domestic and country practice. The leaves should be collected 

 when the fruit is ripe, the active principle being then more fully develop- 

 ed than at the flowering time. 



2. C, occidentalism L, Leaflets 4 -'6 pairs, ovate lanceolate acute; 

 gland ovate ; pods elongated-linear, smooth. 



Western Cassia. Styptic Weed. 



Perennial. jS^m 4 -6 feet high. ieo/Zefe serrate-ciholate. i^Zotoers large, yellow. Le- 

 gume somewhat coriaceous, about 5 inches long, with a tumid border ; 20-30-seeded. 

 Near buildings : Virginia to Louisiana. July- October. 



06s. This plant, which ic very common at the South, is believed to be 

 introduced from Tropical America, where it has some medicinal reputa- 

 tion. The root is said to be diuretic, and the leaves are used as a dress- 

 ing to slight sores. * 



LeajleU small, somewhat sensitive to the touch : stipules persistent ; petio- 

 lar gland cup-shaped ; anthers all perfect. 



3. C. Chamsecris'ta, L. Stems spreading ; leaflets 8-15 pairs, linear 

 oblong ; flowers large and showy ; stamens 10, unequal. 



Partridge Pea. Sensitive Pea. Magothy-bay Bean. 



sum 1-2 feet high, firm and somewhat woody at base, much branched, often purplish. 

 Leaflets half an inch to near an inch long, minutely cihate-serrulate, subsessile ; common 

 jpeiioZes about one-third of an inch in length' below the leaflets , with a depressed or cup- 

 like gland on the upper side. Flowers deep bright yellow (usually with purple spots at 

 base), in lateral subsessile fascicles above the axils of the leaves — often in pairs, some- 

 times 3-4. Legume about 2 inches long, hairy along the sutures. 



Sandy fields : common, especially southward. July -September. 



Ohs. In a paper read before the American Philosophical Society, May 

 2, 1788, and published in the 3d volume of their Transactions, Dr. Green- 

 way of Virginia, speaks favorably of this plant as a means of recruiting 

 worn out lands, by its decomposition in the soil, — though he considers 

 the common corn-field Pea as preferable ; and I have no doubt that the 

 Eed Clover (Trifolium pratense), properly managed, is more eligible 

 than either. 



18. GYMNO'CLADUS, Lam. Kex\tucky Coffee-teee. 



[Greek, Gymnos, naked, and Klados, a branch ; in reference to its stout naked branches.] 



Flowers dioecious, regular. Calyx tubular, 5-cleft. Petals 5, equal, ob- 

 long, inserted on the calyx-tube. Stamens 10, distinct, inserted with the 

 petals. Legume oblong, flat, the valves thick and woody, pulpy within. 

 A tree with the young branches clumsily thick ; leaves odd-bipinnate. 



