Trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants, with simply abruptly pinnate leaves :
the leaflets opposite. Flowers mostly yellow.
§ 1. Sepals mostly obtuse : stamens unequal; the lower ones with thick quadrangular
fertile anthers, opening by 2 pores at the apex ; the 3 upper sterile,
smaller and deformed: legume cylindrical or somewhat compressed, woody
or somewhat membranaceous, scarcely dehiscent, many-celled by transverse
partitions: seeds compressed, all (or at least the lower ones) horizontal (i. e.
transverse with respect to the valves)__C h a m j e f i s t u l a , DC. ; Vogel.
* Legume membranaceous, somewhat compressed, but tumid; the upper seeds
sometimes vertical, the lower always horizontal.—Oncolobium, Vogel.
1. C. ocridentalis (Linn.): annual, erect, branched, glabrous ; leaflets 6 -
12, ovate-lanceolate or ovate, very acute or acuminate, somewhat ciliate ;
petiole with a sessile obtuse gland at the base; racemes axillary, 3-5-flow-
ered, much shorter than the leaves, those at the summit of the branches
somewhat panic-led ; legumes long, with a tumid border, glabrous.—Linn.!
spec. 1. p. 377 ; - Michx.! jl. 1. p. 261 ; Bot. reg. t. 83; Ell. sk. 1. p. 471 ;
Audub. birds of Amer. t. 35 ; W. Sy Am. prodr. Ind. Or. l .p . 290 ; Vogel,
l. c. p. 21. C. Caroliniana, Walt. Car. p. 134. C. ciliata, Raf. fl. Ludov.
C. linearis, Michx. ? Ell. 1. c. ?
Near buildings, &c., Virginia! and South Carolina! to Louisiana! July.
—Stem 4-6 feet high. Leaflets usually about 5 pairs,, serrulately ciliolate.
Stipules deciduous. Petals large, yellow, not spotted. Legume somewhat
eoriaeeous, about 5 inches long, 30-50-seeded.
§ 2. Sepals obtuse : anthers of the lower stamens fertile, thick and. quadrangular,
opening by 2 pores at the apex ; the 2-3 upper ones smaller, sterile
and deformed : legume compressed, narrow, many-celled with membranous
transverse partitions, membranaceous: seeds vertical (i. e. compressed
parallel with the valves), their longer diameter in the same direction with the
legume.—P rososperma, Vogel.
2. C. obtusifolia (Linn.) : annual, branching, nearly glabrous ; leaflets 6
or rarely 4, obovate, obtuse, slightly mucronate, a little pubescent beneath
when young ; a cylindraceous gland between the two lower pairs ; stipules
linear-subulate, arcuate, rather deciduous ; legumes very long and narrow,
glabrous, quadrangular-compressed, recurved.—Linn. spec. 1. p. 377 ; DC.
1. c .; Vogel, l. c.:p. 24. C. fcetida, &c., Dill. Elth. t. 7 2 ,/. 72.
0- humilis (Vogel): gland single between the lower pair of leaflets.—C.
humilis, CoUadon, monogr.; DC. 1. c. C. Tora, Walt. ! 1. c .P u r s h , fl. 1.
p. 305 ; Ell.sk. 1. p. 471. '
In dry soils, S. Carolina ! to Florida ! west to the Canadian River, Arkansas,
Dr. James ! July-Oct.—Stem 4-5 inches to 3 feet in height. Leaflets
scarcely ciliolate. Legumes about 6 inches long, recurved-arcuate.—As
the legumes of our plant are- always recurved, it belongs to C. obtusifolia,
but we know not whether the other distinctions between it and C. Tora are
constant.
§ 3. Sepals obtuse: anthers of the lower stamens fertile, thick and quadrangular,
opening by 2 pores at the apex: the 3 upper sterile and deformed:
legume compressed, more or less many-celled with transverse partitions,
membranaceous or coriaceous, dehiscent: seeds usually compressed, vertical,
their long diameter in the direction of the breadth of the legume, longer than
the funiculus.—Chamjesenna, DC. (partly); Vogel.
3. C. Marilandica (Linn.) : perennial, glabrous or somewhat pubescent
with scattered spreading hairs ; leaflets 12—18, lanceolate-oblong, mucronate
; gland near the base of the petiole clavate ; stipules linear-subulate,
caducous ; racemes axillary, very short, somewhat paniculate at the summit
of the branches ; legumes linear, somewhat curved, at length nearly glabrous.—
Linn.! spec. 1. p. 378 ; Michx.! Jl. 1. p. 261; Pursh, l. c. ;
Schkuhr. handb. 1. t. 113 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 473 ; Bigel. mecl. bot. t. 39 ;
Bart. veg. mat. med. t. 12 ; DC. ! 1. c .; Torr.! jl. 1. p. 439; Darlingt. !
jl. Cest. p, 439. Senna foliis Mimosas, &c., Dill. Elth. t. 260, ƒ. 339. C.
ligustrina, Linn, as to syn. Gronov. 1 Virg. ; Pursh, jl. 1. p. 306.
In alluvial soil, New England States ! and New York! to S. Carolina and
throughout the Western States. July-Aug.—Stem 3-4 feet high. Leaflets
conspicuously mucronate, slightly ciliate.. Petals yellow, obovate-euneiform.
Anthers blackish. Legume 3-4 inches long, hairy when young.— Wild-
Senna.
4. C. bijlora (Linn.) : shrubby: leaflets 4-10 pairs, oblong or obovate,
mucronate, pubescent or glabrous ; a terete acute gland between the lowest
pair; peduncles 2-4-flowered; the flowers somewhat geminate ; legume
narrowly linear, transversely articulated, membranaceous, pubescent. Vogel.—
Linn, ameen. acad. 5. p. 397 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 495 ; Vogel, l. c. p.
29. C. galegifolia, Linn., C. tenuissima, Linn., and C. frondosa, Ait. fide
Vogel.
Texas, Drummond!—We have seen only a very imperfect specimen in
Drummond’s Texan Collection, which appears to belong to this species.
§ 4. Sepals obtuse, acute, or acuminate : stamens 10, or by abortion 9-5 •• anthers
all fertile, mostly of unequal length, quadrangular, linear, opening at
the apex by 2 pores or clefts: legume compressed, coriaceous, more or less
completely many-celled by transverse partitions: seeds vertical.—Lasio-
rhegma, Vogel.
5. C. Chamcecrista (Linn.) : annual, hairy or glabrous, erect or a little decumbent;
leaflets 20-30, linear-oblong, oblique at the base, obtuse, mucronate;
gland below the lowest pair of leaflets, sessile or slightly pedicellate, cupshaped
or depressed ; stipules and bracts subulate, striate, persistent; fascicles
of flowers supra-axillary ; pedicels slender, bracteolate near the summit;
flowers large ; sepals attenuate-acuminate ; anthers 10, all fertile, subsessile,
very long; style filiform.— Linn. ! spec. 1. p. 379 ; Walt. ! Car. p. 136 ;
Michx. ! 1. c. ; Smith, in Abbot, ins. Georg, t. 94 ; Bot. mag. t. 107; Pursh,
l. c. ; DC. ! prodr. 2. p. 503 ; Darlingt. jl. Cest. p. 433 ; Vogel, l. c. p. 62,
(not of Swartz.)
a. nearly glabrous; fascicles 2-3-flowered ; 2-3 of the petals with a purple
spot near the base ; 4 of the anthers yellowish, the others purple or often all
yellowish; legumes glabrous.
0. somewhat glabrous; fascicles several-flowered ; petals not spotted at
the base ; anthers all yellow ; legumes somewhat glabrous.—C. fasciculata,
Michx. jl. l.p . 262 ; Ell. 1. c.
y. hirsutely pubescent (exdfept the leaflets); legumes somewhat hairy, especially
along the sutures; otherwise as in a.—C. Chamascrista, Michx. 1. c .;
Ell. 1. c.