374 
XLIII. LEGUMINOSiE. 
[ Crotalaria . 
lobes, the 2 upper ones rather broader. Petals pale yellow, shorter than the calyx. 
Ovary sessile, glabrous, with above 30 ovules. Pod oblong, not exceeding the 
calyx. — Benth. in Hook. Lond. Journ. ii. 564; C. anthylloides, D. Don; W. and 
Arn. Prod. FI. Ind. 181, and of some others, not of Lam. 
Hab.: Islands of Torres Straits ; Endeavour River and Broadsound, 7?. Brown ; Rockhampton, 
Thozet ; Fitzroy River, Dallachy ; Port Deuison, Fitzalan. 
8. C. retusa (blunt leaves), Linn.; DC. Prod. ii. 125 ; Bentli. FI. Austr. ii. 
181. An erect perennial or undershrub of 1^ to 3ft., with few stiff erect branches, 
hoary with a short pubescence. Leaves simple, cuneate-oblong, very obtuse or 
retuse, 1^ to 3in. long, glabrous above, hoary or silky-pubescent underneath. 
Flowers yellow, rather large, pendulous. Bracts and bracteoles as in the other 
Australian species small and narrow. Calyx 4 to 6 lines long, slightly pubescent, 
the tube broad, the lobes longer than the tube, the 2 upper ones rather broader, 
the lateral ones shortly united with the narrow lowest one. Standard broadly 
orbicular, J to lin. diameter. Ovary sessile, glabrous, with 18 to 20 ovules. Pod 
glabrous, much inflated, often attaining lAin. in length. — Bot. Reg. t. 253 ; Bot. 
Mag. t. 2561 ; W. and Arn. Prod. 187 ; Rheede, Hort. Mai. ix. t. 25 ; F. v. M. 
Fragm. iii. 51. 
Hab.: Edgecombe Bay, Dallachy, and many other localities in tropical Queensland. 
The species is widely spread over the warmer regions of the globe, both in the New and the 
Old World, but chiefly near the sea. — Benth. 
9. C. IVIitchelli (after Sir T. Mitchell), Benth. in Mitch. Trop. Austr. 120, 
and FI. Austr. ii. 181. A perennial with a thick stock and erect branching stems 
of 1^ to 3ft., more or less pubescent or tomentose. Leaves ovate-elliptical, ovate- 
lanceolate, or rarely almost obovate or narrow-oblong, obtuse but usually less so 
than in C. retusa, 2 to 3 or rarely 4in. long, glabrous above, hoary or loosely 
pubescent underneath. Flowers much smaller and more numerous than in C. 
retusa, in a dense terminal raceme often attaining 4 to 6in. Calyx rarely 3 lines 
long, slightly pubescent, the lobes scarcely longer than the tube. Standard 5 to 
6 lines diameter. Ovary sessile, glabrous, with 8 to 10 ovules. Pod under lin. 
long. 
Hab.: Bed of the Balonne River, Mitchell ; Dawson and Brisbane Rivers, F. v. Mueller ; Wide 
Bay, Bidwill; Rockhampton, Thozet, Dallachy ; Port Denison, Fitzalan. 
Much as the shape of the leaves varies, they are always broader and less cuneate than in C. 
retusa, and the pellucid dots are much less conspicuous. — Benth. 
The three following species appear to be anomalous in the development of their flowers. 
Most of the specimens of C. Novte-Hollandice have the lower buds of the raceme still unopened 
whilst the upper ones are fully out, and I have observed it also in one or two racemes of C. 
Cunninghamii, in another I see undeveloped buds irregularly mixed. The only 2 specimens of 
C. crassipes are not in a state to show the order of development. It remains, however, as yet 
doubtful whether the inflorescence is really centrifugal, or whether the develobment of the lower 
buds has been from some cause retarded after their first appearance. — Benth. 
10. C. Novae-Hollandiae (of New Holland [Australia]), DC. Prod. ii. 
127; Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 181. An erect shrub, of 2 or 3ft., with terete or 
angular closely tomentose branches. Leaves oval-elliptical or oblong, very 
obtuse, 2 to 3in. long, glabrous or pubescent above, silky-pubescent, tomentose or 
villous underneath, the petiole from J to Jin. long, more or less distinctly articu- 
late or geniculate above the middle. Flowers yellow, rather numerous, in terminal 
racemes, variable in size. Bracts small and narrow. Calyx about 3 to 3| lines 
long, the lobes all acuminate, nearly equal and scarcely longer than the tube. 
Standard 6 to 8 lines diameter, glabrous. Ovary sessile, pubescent or villous, 
