Flora Medica

FABACE.K, OR LEGUMINOS^.papilionaceous; vexillum ovate. Stamens 9, monadelphous, coheringat the base with the claw of the vexillum, the 10thwanting. Style short. Stigma capitate. Legume oblong,compressed, 4 6- seeded. Seeds roundish, separated by cellularpartitions. Twining or diffuse shrubs. Leaves abruptly pinnated,with many pairs of leaflets. Pedicels springing severaltogether from large alternate, terete, glandular tubercles alongthe racemes. W. and A.522. A. precatorius Linn. syst. 533. Roxb.fl. ind. iii. 258.D C. prodr.ii. 381 . W. and A. i. 236. Glycine Abrus Linn,sp. pi 1025. {Rheede viii. t. 39. Humph, v. t. 32.). Variousparts of India, whence it isthought to have been carried to Africaand America.Stem woody, twining ;bark smooth j young shoots with a few whitedepressed hairs. Leaves alternate, abruptly pinnate, from 2 to 6 incheslong. Leaflets opposite, sub-sessile, from 8 to 15 pairs, linear-oblong,smooth, entire, both ends obtuse, the lower pairs smaller. Stipules ofthe leaves lanceolate, of the leaflets minute. Racemes axillary, solitary,long-stalked their peduncle horizontal, ; thick, and strong, often leafbearing.The raceme or flower-bearing part, erect, secund, with theapex projectingin a curve. Flowers numerous, short-stalked, insertedon 2 rows of large, alternate, round, glandular tuberosities, growing onthe exterior side of the raceme, pretty large, and of a pale pink colour.Calyx campanulate, obscurely 5-toothed. Vexillum ovate ; sides deflected; apex ascending, the length of the wings ; wings falcate, projectinghorizontally keel ; cymbiform, the length of the other petals.Filaments 9, united into a cylinder, with a fissure on the upper side,the distinct portions erect, and alternately shorter. Anthers ovate,small. Ovary minute, hid in the base of the tube of the stamens.Ovary hairy ; style very short ; stigma headed. Legume of a longrhomboidal shape, protuberant at the seeds, divided by transversemembranes, into as many cells as there are seeds. Seeds generally 4or 5, spherical, smooth, of a bright shining red, or white, with a blackmark at the eye, or more rarely black with a white eye. Rootemployed both in the East and West Indies as a substitute for Liquorice.The leaves also have a similar taste, and an extract, resembling that ofthe Liquorice, and an infusion, much used as a diluent drink, may beprepared from them. The seeds have been incorrectly characterisedby Dr. Patrick Browne, as very deleterious ;2 or 3, according toHerman, an author from whom he quotes, being a mortal dose. Theyare on the contrary, perfectly innocuous, and though hard and indigestible,form, according to Prosper Alpinus, an article of food inEgypt. Macfadyen.PHASEOLUS.Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed ;or bilabiate, the upper lip2-toothed, the lower 3-partite.Corolla papilionaceous:keel,with the stamens and style, spirally twisted or circinnate. Legumecompressed or cylindrical, 2-valved, many-seeded, withmore or less conspicuous cellular partitions between the seeds.252