Flora Medica

ARTHROLOBIUM.ARTHROLOBIUM.Calyx ebracteate, tubular, nearly equally 5-toothed. Keel ofthe corolla very small, compressed. Stamens diadelphous. Legumetaper, consisting of numerous, 1 -seeded, indehiscent,cylindrical, truncated joints. Smooth European herbaceousplants. Leaves unequally pinnated. Stipules 0, or concreteinto a single bidentate one opposite the leaf. Flowers yellow,capitate, without a leafy bract. DC.516. A. scorpioides DC. prodr.ii. 311. Ornithopus scorpioidesLinn. sp. pi. 1049. Cav. ic. i. t. 37. South of France,Italy and Spain, in corn-fields and similar places.An annual erect plant. Leaves ternate ; leaflets at the side verysmall, roundish, placed close to the stem, terminal one very large andoval ; stipules concrete, sheathing. Peduncles longer than the leaves,with about 4 flowers. Legumes somewhat incurved and knotted.Leaves vesicant.ORMOCARPUM.Calyx furnished with 2 persistent bracteoles at its base, 5-cleft,and more or less evidently bilabiate ; all the segments acute.Corolla papilionaceous;vexillum broad, entire : keel obtuse,the petals slightly cohering at the back. Stamens diadelphous(9 and 1, or 5 and 5). Legume stalked, composed of severaljoints ; joints oblong, attenuated at both ends, a little compressed,marked longitudinally with striae and warts, separatingreadily from each other, 1-seeded. Shrubs. Leaves simple,or unequally pinnated: leaflets not furnished with a pricklypoint, glabrous. Racemes short, few-flowered, axillary. W.and A.517. O. sennoides DC. prodr.ii. 315. W. and A. i. 216.Hedysarum sennoides Willd. iii. 1207. Roxb.fl. ind. iii. 364.Forests, hedges, uncultivated lands, &c. in India.Branches numerous, irregular ; young shoots, petioles, peduncles,pedicels and calyx, covered with a soft kind of glutinous hair ;thegluten is of a bright gold colour, and is frequently seen in small, beautiful,distinct, globules at the extremities of the hairs. Leaves pinnate,with an odd one, about 2 inches long. Leaflets alternate, from 4 to 6pairs, obovate, retuse, slightly mucronate, smooth ; stipules of thepetioles chaffy, mucronate. Racemes axillary, short, curved, from 3 to6-flowered. Flowers pretty large, yellow. Calyx evidently 2-lipped.Legumes pendulous, compressed, from 2 to 5-jointed, much contractedat the joints, muricate, glutinous, striated. Root tonic and stimulant.