LABLABIA. 
223 
ttt27. Dolichos L. 
tftl- D. LIGNOSUS L. 
Nearly or quite smooth ; st. per. suffrutescent woody below, 
branches twining slender wiry ; lfts. glaucous beneath, rhom- 
boidal-acuminate ; ped. axillary longer than the 1. ; fl. in short 
crowded rac. ; rachis, pedic., and bractlets of cal. subpubescent. 
— DC. ii. 397 ; Desf. ii. 156. 
/3. falcata ; pod curved or falcate. — DC. 1. c. ; BM. t. 380. D. 
lignosus Holl’s List ! in J. of Bot. i. 20, 40. — Shr. per. Mad. cult, 
reg. 1, 2, c. Forming arbours, or in hedges about cottagbs, espe- 
cially in the North of the island. Throughout the year. — St. 
slender but very tough and wiry, thickly branched and inter- 
twining to a height of 10 or 20 ft. forming a close mass. Foliage 
neat and delicate, bright full gr., lfts. not coriaceous rather small 
shining. Fl. conspicuous deep rose-purple turning pale lilac as 
they fade, handsome but not large, scentless in short crowded long- 
stalked rac. Cal. gibbous or with a little short obtuse knob or 
spur above at its base, projecting upwards between a pair of 
minute linear-lanceolate adpressed bractlets ; its lobes membra- 
nous towards the edges and thickly and shortly ciliate. Standard 
abruptly reflexed with 2 white parallel arched ribs, each about a 
line high, at its base attached all their length, the channel be- 
tween them violet, and each produced downwards into a white 
stiff fleshy thickened or channeled spur, from which the gr. 
channeled spur-like claw of the standard arches strongly back. 
Stam. 1 / 9. Style flexuose densely bearded upwards on the up- 
per side towards the small but distinctly capitate stigma. Wings 
rose-purple strongly reflexed and pushed back (not embraced) 
by the 2 keels or ribs at base of standard. Tip of keel dark atro- 
purpureous j ust appearing between the 2 broad deflexed wings. 
Pod about 1 in. long, £ in. broad, slightly falcate flat. Cult, 
merely as an ornamental pi. 
ttt28. Lablabia ( Lablab Adans.). 
tttl. L. vulgaris Savi. 
Pods broadly scimitar-shaped, the upper suture straight ; seeds 
oval slightly compressed and reniform, hilum obtuse at each end. 
— Lablab vulgaris DC. ii. 401. Dolichos Lablab L ., Brot. ii. 124. 
/3. purpurea-, fl. purple. — DC. 1. c. ; Wight 111. Ind. Bot. in 
Hook. Bot. Misc. ii. 352, Supplem. t. 15. Dolichos Lablab BM. 
t. 896; Sm. Exot. Bot. t. 74; Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 830. D. 
purpureus Jacq. Fragm. 45, t. 55. 
Subv. 1. Seeds dark chocolate or purplish black. 
2. Seeds brown or tawny speckled with purplish black. 
