LEGUMINOSjE. 
255 
ceous or pubescent, patenti-reflected, adhering to the 
obtuse keel. Stamens variously connected, monadel- 
phous, or diadelphous with the upper filament slightly 
adhering. Style filiform : stigma terminal. Legume 
generally sessile, compresso-plane, linear, many-seed- 
ed, with the valves plane : seeds compressed JDe 
Cand. 
Shrubs or herbaceous plants not twining. The above char- 
acter, so far as the calyx is concerned, does not apply very ac- 
curately to our Jamaica species. — Name, from n^oog ash-coloured , 
in allusion to the prevailing colour of the foliage. 
1. Tephrosia toxicaria. Surinam Poison. 
Suftruticose erect, leaflets 14-20-paired lineari- 
oblong apiculate pubescent above argenteo-sericeous 
with appressed hairs beneath, racemes terminal, 
legumes linear subterete velutino-villous shortly mucro- 
nate 10-seeded. 
Galega toxicaria, Sivartz, Prod. 108. — FI. Ind. Occ. 1278. 
Tephrosia toxicaria, Pers. Ench. 1 1. 328. 
HAB. Cultivated : rarely found wild. 
FL. Throughout the year. 
An erect shrubby plant, 4—5 feet in height: extremities of 
the branches anguloso-sulcated, rufescenti-velutine. Leaflets 
petiolated, nearly 2 inches in length, and 4 lines broad. Stipules 
subulate, £ of an inch in length. Racemes terminal : rachis 
3- gonal, velutine. Flowers shortly pedicelled, in clusters of 
4- 6, white with a purplish tinge. Calyx sub-bilabiate; upper 
lip 2-fid ; under lip 3-partite as far as the middle ; divisions 
acute. Standard externally rufescenti-sericeous. Stamens 
sub-monadelphous, i. e. the 10th stamen adhering to the rest 
for only a short distance above the base. Legume sessile, 
2-3£ inches long : seeds oblong, light brown variegated with 
black. 
This plant is said to have been originally brought from Su- 
rinam, or, what is more probable, from Africa. It is very 
generally cultivated, and may occasionally be met with grow- 
ing wild. It is employed for the purpose of poisoning fish in 
rivers. The young branches with the leaves pounded, and 
sometimes mixed with quicklime, are thrown into a pool, or, 
in the language of the country, blue-hole of some mountain 
stream, and have an almost immediate effect. The fish are 
observed to become stupified, and as it were intoxicated, and 
to rise to the surface, floating there with their belly upwards, 
so as to be readily taken by the hand. It has been remarked, 
