  Class and Order. Diadelphia Decandria. Generic Character. Cal. punctis callosis adspersus longitudine leguminis monspermi. Specific Character and Synonyms. PSORALEA bracteata foliis ternatis obovatis recurvato-mucronatis, mucronatis, spicis ovatis. Linn. Mant. 264. Berg. Cap. 224. Ait. Kew. v. 3. p. 79. TRIFOLIUM fruticans. Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 3. p. 1085. TRIFOLIUM africanum fruticans flore purpurascente. Comm. Hort. 2. p. 211. t. 106. 446 No446. The old authors, and indeed LinnÆus himself at first, regarded this plant as a Trifolium; afterwards the latter changed it to Psoralea, and minutely described it in his Mantissa. As a green-house plant, this small and delicate species has long been cultivated Its inflorence to us has more the appearance of a capitulum than a spike, and which when the plant is in full bloom, is by no means ovate, but rather hemispherical; the purple colour of the vexillum, contrasted with the white of the alÆ, gives to the flowers a very pleasing parti-coloured appearance. In its leaves we have a good example of the folium mucronatum. It is a native of the Cape, flowers in June and July, and is usually propagated by cuttings. |
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