Plum-plants—Papilionaceæ.
1733. Polypetalous calycine corollæ, with a drupe or its fundamental form, the legumen. Here belong the papilionaceous plants, Rhamnaceæ and Terebinthaceæ.
1734. The stalk is frequently herbaceous with nodes; but mostly fruticose and arborescent.
1735. The leaves here attain their highest development, and are mostly pinnated, sometimes endowed with the power of independent motion.
1736. The corollæ are mostly irregular, quinary, arranged like pinnate leaves, with ten, rarely more, connate and free stamina.
1737. The ovarium is a single carpel, owing to the four others being arrested; it is usually compressed and bivalved, with few seeds; it is a legumen, frequently converted into a fleshy fruit.
1738. The Papilionaceæ are so rich in number that they include all the orders of the trunk, and even transcend or exceed its limits; their allied families are the Rhamnaceæ and Terebinthaceæ with fleshy fruits.
1739. First order, Drupariæ parenchymatosæ. Papilionaceæ with herbaceous, nodose stalk and pinnated leaves; corolla-petals and single stamen free; seed-lobes thin—Hedysareæ, Astragaleæ, Glycineæ.
1740. Second order, D. vaginatæ. Herbs and shrubs with ternary or tendrilless leaves; the corolla-petals or stamina frequently confluent—Trifoliaceæ, Genisteæ, Galegeæ.
1741. Third order, D. axonales. Bushes, shrubs, or trees, frequently training with pinnate leaves and tendrils; calyx large, seed-lobes thick—Vicieæ, Beans, Dalbergiæ.