51
BOSSIiEA ensata.
Sword-stèmmed Bossicea.
Linnean Class and Order. BIADELPHIA DECANDRIA.
Naturel Order. LEGUMINOSjE. DC. prodr. 2. p. 93.
Subordo I. PAPILIONACEJE.—Tribus II. Lote^e. Supra fol. 2.
Subtribus I. GenisTe^e. Legumen uniloculare. Stamina ssepissimè monadelpha-
Folid simplicia aut palmatim trifoliata rariüs pinnata. Caules saepissimè fruticosi.
BOSSIJEA. Supra fol. 9.
B. e.mta, ramis complanatis linearibus aphyllis, denticulis floriferis, carina subnuda
bracteis superioribus ab inferioribus dïstantibus prodr. 2. p. 117. pedicello brevioribus. DC.
Bossieea ensata. Sieb. pl. exs. nov. holt. n. 434. Swt. hort. brit. add. p. 475.
Bossiasa rufa. Lodd. bot. cab. 1119* nee aliorum.
A dwarf upright bushy Shrub : branches numerous, crowded,
branching in all directions, leafy on young plants, but leafless on
old flowering ones: young branches flat, linear, nearly equal in
breadth throughout, toothed, of a bright green, at first yellowish;
old ones becoming nearly round, but winged. Flowers numerous*
proceeding singly from the teeth of the branches, yellow marked
with a brownish purple. Pedicles smooth, producing several
bractes at the base, and two about the middle of the pedicle. Bractes small, ovate, concave, bluntish, the lower ones smallest. Calyx tubular, smooth, two-lipped; ciliate: upper-lip largest,
slightly cleft, the segments broad and blunt: lower-lip three-cleft
the latinise ovate, acute, tipped with brown, spreading. Vex-
illum broad, rounded, with a notch in the centre, and a slender
unguis tapering to the base, the upper side bright yellow, striated
with numerous small lines, with a sort of crescent-shaped brownish
purple mark near the base, which extends up through the
centre; back of the same colour, all but near the marginsf Alee
or wings spathulate, concave, with a slender unguis on one side
at the base, yellow tinged with brownish purple or copper-colour. Keel about the length of or scarcely so long as the wings, notched
at the point, blunt and bluntly keeled, brownish purple or dark