486 
XLIII. LEGUMINOSjE. 
[Dolichos. 
with several ovules ; style thickened upwards, either bearded longitudinally on 
the inner side or hairy ail round, at least round the stigma, which is small and 
terminal. Pod flattened, usually falcate and acute, 2-valved. Seeds with a 
small or shortly linear hilum, not strophiolate. — Herbs often woody at the base, 
twining trailing or short and suberect. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate, stipellate. 
Stipules small. Flowers sometimes few together, on very short axillary 
peduncles or even solitary, with striate persistent bracts and bracteoles, almost as 
in Clitoria , more frequently in axillary racemes, clustered on lateral nodes along 
the peduncle, with very small and deciduous bracts and bracteoles, as in Vigna 
and Phaseolus. 
The genus is chiefly S. African, with a few tropical Asiatic and S. American species. The only 
Australian one is widely spread over E. India and S.E. Africa. 
Lablab.— Pod oblong, 2 to 4-seeded ; style flattened upwards, narrowed at the 
base 1. D. J,ablab. 
Dolichos proper . — Pod linear, many-seeded; style filiform, not narrowed at 
the base. Flowers 1 to 3 on short axillary pedicels, without a common 
peduncle 2. D. biflorus. 
1. Lablab (its Egyptian name), Linn.; Baker in Oliver FI. Trap. Afr. ii. 
210. A wide-climbing perennial, with subglabrous stems. Leaflets 8, mem- 
branous, acute, glabrous above, nearly or quite so below ; central one ovate- 
deltoid, 3 to Gin. long, broadly spathulately narrowed at the base. Flowers in 
fascicled lax racemes, 3 to Gin. long, on firm elongated peduncles. Calyx broadly 
campanulate, 2f to 3 lines long, subglabrous, with a pair of roundish deciduous 
bracteoles at the base, 2 upper teeth connate, the others shorter than the tube. 
Corolla reddish or pale, 6 to 9 lines deep, the keel abruptly incurved. Pod If to 
2in. long, 7 to 10 lines broad, narrowed at the base, the upper suture nearly 
straight, the face glabrescent, rarely persistently pubescent. Seeds 2 to 4 ; style 
flattened upwards, not twisted, narrowed at the base. — Bot. Mag. t. 896 ; Lablab 
vulgaris, Savi, DC. Prod. ii. 401 ; L. uncinatus, A. Braun, in Schimp. Hb. Abyss.; 
D. crenatifructus, Steud. in Schimp. Hb. Abyss. 513 ; D. purpurens, Linn. Bot. 
Mag. t. 830. — Baker l.c. 
Hab.: Commonly cultivated in tropical countries for its green pods, which are used as a 
vegetable. Met with in Queensland as a stray from cultivation. The plant is extremely variable 
under cultivation in size and shape of pod and colour of the flowers and seed. 
2. !D. biflorus (2-flowered), Linn.; I)C. Prod. ii. 398 ; Benth. FI. Austr. ii. 
261. “ Mal-kan,” Cape Bedford, “ Tandaji,” Butcher’s Hill, B,oth. Either 
dwarf and nearly erect or elongated and twining, softly pubescent in all its 
parts or at length glabrous. Leaflets ovate, acuminate, 1 to 2in. long, 
the lateral ones very oblique. Stipules ovate or lanceolate, striate, persistent. 
Flowers usually 1 or 2, rarely 3 or 4, clustered in the axils on a very short common 
peduncle, of a yellowish colour, not fin. long. Bracts and bracteoles narrow, 
almost subulate or the lower ones broader and striate. Calyx-lobes subulate, 
longer than the tube, the lowest longer than the others. Standard broadly 
obovate ; wings narrow ; keel much incurved, with a short obtuse beak. Style 
filiform, glabrous, except a small tuft of hairs round the terminal stigma. Pod 
falcate, usually If to 2in. long and about 4 lines broad. — D. unifiorus, Lam.; DC. 
Prod. ii. 398 ; L>. axillaris, E. Mey.; Harv. and Sond. FI. Cap. ii. 245. 
Hab.: Cape Bedford, Cooktown, and Butcher’s Hill, Roth. 
The species is dispersed over tropical Asia and S.E. Africa. In inflorescence, and in the style 
not longitudinally bearded, it differs from most species of the genus, and approaches in some 
respects Clitoria. The lowest flowers are apparently sometimes small and apetalous.— Benth 
Grown in India for its seeds, which are called “ Madras Gram.” 
Boots eaten after being roasted. — Roth. 
