CXLVL— ANALYTICAL DRAWINGS OF THE 
PEA-AND-BEAN FAMILY. 
{Leguminosa^ 
T he description of the last twelve Plates will have plainly demonstrated the 
unity in variety of the Family LeguminoscB, or, perhaps, one should say, of 
the Sub-Family PapilionatcB which alone is represented in the British flora. They 
agree for the most part in having compound leaves, papilionaceous flowers, with five 
sepals, five petals, ten stamens, and a single carpel, and in that carpel forming a dry, 
pod-like fruit. The compound leaves generally exhibit nyctitropic movements : 
the flowers illustrate a variety of modifications of one type of insect-pollination ; 
and, in the majority of cases, the pod contains several seeds and dehisces elastically 
so as to secure their dispersal. 
We may, perhaps, add here that the power of utilising free atmospheric 
nitrogen, which Leguminosa possess in virtue of the symbiotic Bacteria in their 
root-tubercles, enables them to flourish in poor soils ; that many of them produce 
an abundance of succulent green foliage which is valuable as fodder for cattle ; and 
that the relatively large exalbuminous seeds are well known to be exceptionally rich 
in nitrogenous matter, making some of them most nutritious articles of human food. 
At the same time, it is well to add the caution that — unlike the Crucifera — in 
addition to valuable nutritive materials many of them form poisonous alkaloids, so 
that their seeds cannot be eaten indiscriminately. 
In this Plate we have analyses of the flowers and fruit of ten genera, 
and comparison is facilitated by the arrangement of the dissections as nearly as 
possible in the same order in each series. 
The first line of figures represents the Petty Whin (Genista anglica Linn6). 
Fig. I is a flower as seen from above, of the natural size ; Fig. 2 is the same, 
enlarged ; Fig. 3, the calyx, from behind, showing its two lobes, the posterior 
bifid and the anterior trifid ; Fig. 4, the same as seen in side view ; Fig. 5, the 
calyx and essential organs, slightly enlarged ; Fig. 6, the calyx, with a young pod 
retaining the whole style ; Fig. 7, a ripe pod ; and Fig. 8, the same opened so as to 
show the seeds attached half to one valve and half to the other. 
The second line of figures represents the Common Gorse (Ulex europceus Linn6). 
Fig. I is a flower, natural size, as seen from below ; Fig. 2, the same in side view ; 
Fig. 3, the standard petal ; Figs. 4 and 5, wing petals ; and Fig. 6, the keel, seen 
sideways. Fig. 7 shows the essential organs removed from the keel ; Fig. 8, the 
pistil or gynaeceum in the flower stage ; Fig. 9, a young pod ; and Fig. 10, the 
same artificially opened. All this row of figures are of natural size. 
The third line is the Broom (Sarothamnus scoparius Wimmer). Fig. lisa flower 
as seen from above, with the standard petal removed ; Fig. 2 is the essential organs 
and keel separated at an early stage ; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section through an 
