Desmodium. J 
XLIII. LEGUMINOSE. 
415 
the flowers expand. Flowers purple, crowded, 3 to 4 lines long. Pods crowded, 
erect, hairy or glabrous, about f to fin. long, the upper suture continuous, the 
lower indented ; articles about 4 to 6, flat, usually opening at the lower edge 
when ripe. — W. and Arn. Prod. 227 ; Wight, Ic. t. 406. 
Hab.: Sandy Cape, Broadsound, and Northumberland Island, R. Brown ; Providence Hill, F. 
v. Mueller ; Rockhampton, Thozet. 
Extends over the whole of E. India, the Archipelago, and the Pacific Islands. To the 
numerous synonyms adduced by Wight and Arnott must probably be added Hcdysarum tuber- 
culosum , Labill. Sert., Austr. Caled. t. 72. — Benth. 
15. D. trichocaulon (stem hairy), DC. Prod. ii. 335 ; Bentli. FI. Austr. ii. 
235. Very nearly allied to D. polycarpum, with a similar foliage and the erect 
pods the same, but the stems more generally decumbent, more slender, and 
clothed as in D. Muelleri with long soft spreading hairs, and the racemes much 
looser and slender. 
Hab.: Brisbane River, Moreton Bay, F. v. Mueller, Leichhardt, C. Stuart. 
Not uncommon in E. India, where the above-mentioned differences appear to be constant, 
although it may possibly prove to be a variety only of D. polycarpum. — Benth. 
16. D. reniforme (leaflets kidney-shaped), DC. Prod. ii. 327 ; Baker in Hook. 
FI. Brit. Ind. ii. 173. Stem very slender, about 1ft. long. Leaflet 
rigidly sub-coriaceous, about half as broad as long, 6 to 9 lines long, 
truncate or emarginate, glabrous. Stipules linear, minute, deciduous. 
Petioles about 6 lines long, articulate at the apex. Racemes mostly terminal, 
loosely 10 to 20-flowered, and a few flowers solitary in the axils of the leaves. 
Bracts linear minute. Pedicels 1 to 2 lines long, finally cernuous. Calyx under 
1 line, turbinate, glabrous. Pod glabrous, 6 to 9 lines long, If line broad, the 
upper sutures straight, lower slightly indented. — Hedusarum reniforme, Linn. 
Brown, FI. Ind. t. 52, fig. 1. 
Hab.: Musgrave, Cape York Peninsula, T. Barclay -Millar ; Tringilburra Creek, Bellenden 
Ker Expedition, 1889. 
Also in India and Java. 
17. D. Muelleri (after Baron von Mueller), Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 235. 
Stems branching at the base, apparently ascending or erect, clothed as well as the 
racemes with long soft spreading hairs, the young shoots almost silky. Leaflets 
3, oblong, obtuse, f to lfin. long, glabrous, or loosely pubescent. Stipules 
lanceolate, acuminate, softly hairy. Racemes terminal, slender ; pedicels distant, 
solitary, filiform, spreading. Bracts broad, lanceolate, acuminate, imbricate at 
first, but falling off long before the flower expands. Calyx nearly 1 line long, 
the subulate acuminate lobes longer than the tube. Pod sessile, rather broad, 
the upper suture straight and slightly thickened, the lower very slightly indented 
between the seeds ; articles 4 to 6, as broad as long, truncate at both ends, thin 
and flat, with fine transverse veins, separating but apparently opening sometimes 
at the lower suture when ripe. 
Hab.: Bowen River, Bowman; Brisbane River. 
18. S. parvifolium (small-leaved), DC. Prod. ii. 334; Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 235. 
A very much-branched diffuse or prostrate slender annual or perennial, sprinkled 
with a few silky hairs. Leaves usually small and crowded ; leaflets 3 or rarely 
solitary, obovate or oblong, f to nearly fin. long or rarely more, on a short 
filiform common petiole. Stipules acuminate, brown and scarious. Flowers 
small, in short filiform racemes, usually terminating short lateral branches ; 
pedicels solitary, filiform, distant. Bracts membranous, acuminate, falling off 
long before the flower expands, and seldom seen. Calyx about If line long, the 
lobes acuminate, much longer than the tube, the 2 upper ones only shortly united. 
Petals scarcely exceeding the calyx. Pod sessile, glabrous or minutely pubescent, 
