V 
( 509 .) 
ARTIIROLO BIUM* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. Diadf.'lpiiia f, Deca'ndria. 
Natural Order. Legumino's-E+, Juss. Gen. PI. p.345. — Snv 
Gram, of Bot. p. 174. — Lindl. Syn. p. 75. ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of 
Bot. p. 87. — Rich by Macgilliv. p. 532. — Sm. Engl. Fi. v. iii. p. 
259. — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 509. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and 
Bot. v. ii. p. 91. — Hook. Brit. FI. (4th edit.) p. 404. — Mack. Fl.Hib. 
p. 73. — Legumina'ce.-e, Loud. Arb. Brit. p. 561. — Papiliona'- 
ce.e§, Linn. — Rosales; sect. Cicerinaj ; subsect. Lotianje ; 
type, Lotace.e ; subtype, Hedysarid.e ; Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 
614, 638, 642, & 657. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) without bracteas, inferior, tubular, 
permanent ; the margin in 5, nearly equal, teeth. Corolla (see 
fig. 2.) papilionaceous, of 5 petals; standard inversely egg-shaped, 
ascending ; wings rather smaller, oblong, curved upwards ; keel 
very small, compressed, of 2 converging petals, with slender dis- 
tinct claws. Filaments (see fig. 3.) 10, 9 in one compressed tube, 
slit along the upper edge; the tenth hair-like, distinct; all curved 
upward at the extremity. Anthers very small, roundish. Germen 
strap-shaped, compressed. Style slender, ascending. Stigma capi- 
tate, naked. Legume (fig. 4.) cylindrical, more or less curved, 
constantly composed of numerous 1 -seeded, indehiscent, cylindrical 
joints, which are truncate at both ends (see fig. 5). Seeds (figs. 6 
and 7.) very small, kidney-shaped. Flowers yellow, capitate, with- 
out a bractea. 
Distinguished from other genera, with a smooth stigma, in the 
same class and order, by the very small heel ; and the cylindrical, 
curved legume, of numerous close single-seeded, indehiscent joints, 
which are truncate at each end. 
Differs from Ornithopus (t. 358.) in the flowers being destitute 
of bracteas ; and in the legume being cylindrical, and the joints 
nearly obsolete. 
One species British. 
ARTHROLO'BIUM EBRACTEA'TUM. Bractless Joint-vetch. 
Smooth Bird’s-foot. Sand Joint-vetch. 
Spec. Char. Stem filiform. Stipulas very minute. Leaves 
all pinnate ; with many pairs of equal elliptic-oblong leaflets, the 
lower ones remote from the stem. Peduncles about equal in length 
to the leaves, from 1- to 4-flowered. 
Arthrolobium ebracteatum, Engl. Bot. Suppl. t.2844. (fide Hooker}.— Bab. 
Prim. Fi. Sam. p. 29. — Hook. Brit. Ft. 4tli ed. p. 273. ; 5th cd. p. 86. — Loud. First 
Add. Suppl. to Encycl. of Pi. p. 1284. — Astrolobium ebracteatum, De Cand. Prod. 
Fig. 1. Calyx. — Fig. 2. Calyx and Corolla. — Fig. 3. Stamens and Pistil. — Fig. 4. 
Legume. — Fig. 5. A single joint of the Legume. — Figs. 6 & 7. Seeds. — All, except 
figs. 4 & 6, a little magnified. — Figs. 4 to 7, from specimens in the Sherardian 
Herbarium. 
* From arthros, Gr. a joint ; and lobos, Gr. a pod ; from the jointed cha- 
racter of the seed-vessel. 
4 Sec fol. 77, note t. t See fol. 495, a. § Sec fol. 117, note |. 
