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LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
LETTER X. 
August Isti 
There is a plant now abundantly in blossom^ 
which grows in neglected fields and such-like 
places; in company with the Zinnia^ covering, like 
it, large patches of ground wnth a dense mass of 
vegetation, two or three feet high. It is Cassia 
occidentalism It has pinnate leaves, with many 
narrow leaflets ; a bright yellow flower, succeeded 
by a pod like that of a sweet pea, which contains 
seeds hard and unpleasant to the taste. From its 
local name, Florida Coffee, I infer that these seeds 
are roasted, as an imitation of the Mocha berry, 
but such a use seems unknown here. The cater- 
pillar of the Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly [Colias 
Eitbule) is said to feed on this plant. I may re- 
mark that this gay butterfly, wFich was among the 
first that I noticed, still continues plentiful. An- 
other kindred species, but a very little one [Xan- 
tJiidia Tiicunda)^ the Black-banded Sulphur, which 
was common in May and June, is become scarce, 
though it has not yet disappeared. I will describe 
it, for a reason which appears in the note. It is an 
inch and three-eighths in extent, sulphur-yellow, 
with a black cloud at the tip of the first pair, and 
some black irregular spots running into each other, 
at the margin of the second. But its distinguish- 
