34 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. 
CHAPTER IV. 
The Legumes. 
N ext to the Composites, the Legumes or order of 
leguminous plants, is the largest and most 
widely distributed in the world. The legumes 
are so called because the word means a pod-bearer, 
and in this order the seeds are carried in a pod, with 
two valves, which opens on the side opposite to that 
on which the seeds are fastened. The order is 
divided into several sub-orders with regard to the 
shape of the flowers. One section has flowers shaped 
like those of the sweet-pea, and another has flowers 
more or less regularly and evenly shaped. In the 
pea-flower section the curved petal at the bottom is, 
from its shape, called the “keel;” the top ones the 
“standard,” and the side ones, also from their shape, 
the “wings.” There are considerably over one thou- 
sand species of legumes in Australia, nearly two 
hundred being Victorian. A large number are small- 
growing insigniflcant plants or else they have not a 
flower system of any note. They range from trees 
down to herbs, some few being climbing plants. The 
acacias or wattles belong to this family, and they are 
dealt with in a separate chapter. 
The common, so called. Sarsaparilla is a represen- 
tative of this family. It is not a true sarsaparilla, 
as those plants which are noted for the medicinal 
value of their roots, belong to the lily family; at the 
