OF ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 135 
A. VILLOSUM, G. Don ; RUTA VILLOSA, Bieb. ; R. PARVIFLORA, Desf. 
Flowers small, racemose. A native of Mount Caucasus ; introduced in 1818. 
A. LINIFOLIUM, G. Don ; RUTA LINIFOLIA, Lin., Andr. Bot. Rep. t. 565. 
A showy species with corymbose yellow flowers. A native of Spain and other parts of Europe ,: introduced 
in 1752. 
A. DAHURICUM, G. Don ; RUTA DAHURICA, Dec. ; PEGANUM DAHURICUM 8, Lin. 
Flowers pale yellow or white. Introduced in 1816. 
CHAPTER XVII. 
LEGUMINOS^. 
Character of the Order, — Calyx five-cleft, or five-toothed, or 
bilabiate. Petals usually five, rarely fewer, papilionaceous, or un- 
equal, seldom nearly equal, imbricate in aestivation, inserted in the 
bottom of the calyx, rarely in the torus. Stamens inserted with the 
petals, and generally twice their number, monadelphoua or diadel- 
phous. Ovarium free, usually stipitate. Segments generally two- 
valved, one-celled, or transversely many-celled. Seeds fixed to the 
upper suture of the legume by funicles. Albumen none. Leaves 
usually alternate, variable, bistipulate. Flowers of various hues. 
(G. Don.) 
Description, &c. — Perhaps no order is ir.cre popular than this. The plants belonging to it are extremely 
numerous, and are divided into three kinds with regard to their flowers, though they all agree in their fruit being 
leguminous ; that is, consisting of a seed or many seeds, each of which has a little footstalk by which it is 
attached to the upper part of a seed-case or pod. Some of these seeds open, when they begin to grow, into two 
fleshy seed-leaves, or cotyledons as they are called, which diflfer from the otlier leaves both in shape and texture j 
and these plants are wholesome to eat, as, for example, the pea and bean. Other plants belonging to the 
Leguminosaa have seeds which open into their membrane like cotyledons, and these seeds are poisonous. The 
flowers of the Leguminos£B are divided into three kinds : those that are butterfly-shaped or papilionaceous, like 
the pea and lupine ; those that look like a tuft of silk,like the acacia ; and those that have five regular petals, 
like the cassia or senna tree. The Leguminosse are of various kinds : some require a stove, some a greenhouse' 
and some are hardy, and some are trees or shrubs ; while others are perennials, biennials, or annuals. The 
hardy perennials and biennials have almost all pea flowers. 
GENUS I. 
BAPTISIA, Dec. THE BAPTISIA. 
Lin. Syst. DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
can herbs, with trifoliate, rarely simple leaves, and racemes of yellowish 
or blue flowers. (G.Don.) 
Orneric Character. — Calyx 4 — 5-clcft, bilabiate. Petals five 
nearly eq\Kil in length. Vexillum with reflexed sides. Stamens deci- 
duous. Legume ventricose, pedicellate, many-seeded. North Araeri- 
Description, &c. — The species included in this genus are all showy North American plants, generally with 
trifoliate leaves, and yellow or purple pea-flowers, which are produced in upright racemes. The name Baptisia, 
which is derived from Bapto, to dye, was applied to this genus by Professor De CandoUe, on account of the use 
made of the roots of some of the species in dyeing. The species are all hardy, or very nearly so, and they will 
grow in any common garden soil. They are propagated by seeds, or by division of the roots. 
