418 
XLI1I. LEGUMINOS/E. 
47. ALYSICARPUS, Neck. 
(Pods chain-like.) 
Calyx deeply cleft, the lobes stiff and dry, the two uppermost often united into 
one. Standard obovate or orbicular, narrowed into the claw ; wings adhering to 
the obtuse keel. Upper stamen free, the others united ; anthers reniform. Ovary 
sessile or nearly so, with several ovules ; style filiform, with a capitate stigma. 
Pod erect, straight, nearly terete, or somewhat flattened but thick, narrowed 
between the seeds or equal ; articles ovate, globular, or truncate at both ends, 
indehiscent. — Herbs, either glabrous or loosely hairy. Leaves of a single leaflet 
(or very rarely, in species not Australian, 3-foliolate), with stipellas. Stipules 
dry, striate, acuminate, free, or united opposite the leaf. Flowers small, in 
slender terminal or rarely axillary racemes, the pedicels usually in pairs. Bracts 
scarious. 
The genus is generally spread over tropical Asia and Africa, one species having also established 
itself in some parts of America. The two Queensland species are both common Indian ones. 
Calyx small, with very narrow lobes. Pod several times longer, not con- 
tracted, but with slightly raised transverse lines between the seeds .... 1. A. vaginalis. 
Calyx with lanceolate, rigid, not striate lobes overlapping each other. Pod 
shortly exserted, much contracted between the seeds, articles deeply marked 
with transverse wrinkles 2. A. rugosus. 
The common Indian A. monilifer, DC., with smooth globular bead-like articles to the pod, 
may very likely be found also in tropical Australia. — Benth. 
1. A. vaginalis (sheathed), DC. Prod. ii. 353 ; Bentli. FI. Austr. ii. 239. 
A perennial, tufted or much branched at the base, the stems decumbent or 
ascending, from a few inches to above a foot long, glabrous or slightly pubescent. 
Leaves on short slender petioles, the lower ones cordate-orbicular or oval, not fin. 
long, the upper ones from oval-oblong to lanceolate-linear, and often lin. long or 
more, all obtuse. Racemes slender, terminal or at length leaf-opposed ; pedicels 
short, in rather distant pairs. Flowers very small. Calyx about 2 lines long, 
the lobes very narrow, ending in a subulate almost hair-like point, the two upper 
ones less united than in most species. Petals scarcely exceeding the calyx. Pod 
often fin. long or rather more, slightly compressed, obscurely wrinkled, the 
separation of the articles marked by transverse raised lines, without any or rarely 
with a slight contraction. — W. and Arn. Prod. 233 ; A. nummular icefolim, DC. 
Prod. ii. 353 ; W. and Arn. Prod. 232. 
Hab.: Burdekin River and Broadsound, Bowman. 
Common in E. India and the Archipelago, and introduced into other parts of the world. — 
Benth. 
2. A. rugOSUS (rough), DC. Prod. ii. 353; Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 239. An 
annual or biennial, with procumbent ascending or erect stems, attaining 1 to 2ft., 
but sometimes low and short, pubescent or loosely hairy. Leaves articulate on a 
short petiole, the lowest ovate, obtuse, f to lin. long, the upper ones lanceolate 
or linear, 1 to 3in. Racemes in the Australian form rather long, softly hairy. 
Bracts ovate-lanceolate, striate, but falling off as in the other species long before 
the flower expands. Pedicels in distant pairs, much shorter than the calyx. 
Calyx about 3f lines long, divided almost to the base into 4 lanceolate acute dry 
stiff lobes, overlapping each other on the edges and not striate, the upper one 
(formed of 2 united) slightly notched. Petals scarcely exceeding the calyx or 
rather shorter. Pod scarcely exceeding the calyx, contracted between the seeds, 
into 3, 4 or rarely 5 articles, as broad as or broader than long, strongly marked 
with transverse wrinkles. — Hedysarum rugosum, Willd. Sp. PL iii. 1172 ; 
A. cylindricux, Desv. in Ann. Linn. Soc. Par. 1825, 301, as quoted by him in 
Ann. Sc. Nat. ix. 417. 
Hab.: Bowen River, Bowman. 
The species is common in tropical Asia and Africa, where it varies much, sometimes low and 
diffuse, with almost all the leaves obovate or broadly oblong, sometimes tall and almost erect, 
