Strongylodon .] 
XLIII. LEGUMINOS/E. 
429 
1. S. ruber (red), Vogel; A. Gray Bot. Amer. Expl. Exped. 446, t. 48; 
Baker, in Hook. FI. Brit. Ind. ii. 191. Stems firm, wide-twining, glabrous. 
Leaflets green, subconcolorous, glabrous, membranous, the end one roundish 
with a point, 4 to Gin. long. Racemes copious, axillary, distinctly pedunculate, 
6 to 12in. long ; pedicels geminate from the tumid nodes, filiform, drooping, 
% to lin. Calyx glabrous, 3 to 4 lines, clasped at the base by a pair of short 
round deciduous bracteoles. Corolla bright red, 3 or 4 times the calyx. Pod 
oblong, 3in. long, distinctly stalked, 2-seeded. — Rhynchosia lucida, DC. Prod. ii. 
387 ; Baker l.c. 
Hab.: Coastal scrubs of tropical Queensland, F. v. M. 
57. MUCUNA, Adans. 
(Brazilian name.) 
Calyx broadly campanulate, 4-toothed, the upper one (consisting of 2 com- 
bined) broader, the lowest longer. Standard shorter than the wings ; keel as 
long as or longer than the wings, incurved at the end, with a hardened point or 
beak. Upper stamen free, the others united ; filaments usually dilated upwards ; 
anthers alternately longer and erect, and shorter versatile and often bearded. 
Ovary sessile, with several ovules ; style filiform, with a terminal stigma. Pod 
thick, clothed with stinging often very deciduous hairs, 2-valved. Seeds roundish 
with a long linear hilum, or oblong with a shorter lateral hilum.— Large twiners. 
Leaflets 3, stipellate. Stipules small or none. Fkwers usually large, purple 
yellow or nearly white, in axillary racemes, the pedicels clustered along the 
rhachis on lateral nodes, or on short peduncles, when the raceme is converted into 
a corymb or dense panicle. 
The genus is widely spread over the tropical regions of the New and the Old World ; the only 
Australian species is a common Asiatic one. With considerable diversity in the pod and seeds, 
the species are all distinguished by the keel and stamens. The pungent hairs of the pod are 
rarely wanting, and all become black in drying. — Benth. 
1. M. gigantea (gigantic), DC. Prod. ii. 405 ; Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 254. 
Glabrous or slightly hairy when young. Leaflets from broadly ovate to ovate- 
lanceolate, acuminate, 3 to 4in. long, the lateral ones very oblique. Flowers of 
a pale greenish-yellow, nearly ljin. long, in short loose corymbs, on pendulous 
peduncles of from 2 or 3in. to nearly 1ft. Calyx about -|in. broad, hirsute with 
deciduous hairs. Standard ovate, concave, reflexed ; wings rather longer, the 
edges pubescent below the middle ; keel still longer, with a short indurated 
inflexed beak. Shorter anthers bearded. Pod rather thick but flat, above lin. 
broad, with a narrow longitudinal wing on each side of each suture, the pungent 
hairs usually falling off before maturity. Seeds 2 to about 6, large, orbicular, 
half encircled by the hilum.— W. and Arn. Prod. 254 ; Hook. Bot. Misc. iii. t. 
Suppl. 14 (wrong as to colour ?). 
Hab.: Brisbane River and Moreton Bay, Fraser, F. v. Mueller, and others; Rockhampton, 
Thozet; Edgecombe Bay, Dallacliy. 
The species is widely distributed over E. India, the Archipelago, and islands of the S. 
Pacific. — Benth. 
58. GALACTIA, R. Br. 
(Some species milky.) 
Calyx-lobes 4 (the upper one consisting of 2 combined) acuminate, the 2 lateral 
shorter. Standard ovate, narrowed at the base, the margins slightly inflexed ; 
wings narrow, slightly adhering to the keel ; keel about as long. Upper stamen 
free, the others united ; anthers uniform. Ovary nearly sessile ; style filiform, 
with a small terminal stigma. Pod linear, straight or curved, usually flat, 
