Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.

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. Kótstbgi itet Nubicuní.
lO. Tephrosia leptostachya JMÍ.
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7. Cracca PURPUREA L.
‘ Cracca purpurea L. Sp. Pl. 752'(1753).
. Colega piscatoria Ait. Hort. Kew. 3 : 71 (1789).
Tephrosia leptostachya DC. Prodr. 2: 251 (1825),
Tephrosia adscendens Maefad. FI. Jam. 257 (1837).
Tephrosia tendía A. Gray, PI. Wright, 2: 36 (1853),
Annual or perennial from a slender woody base, glabrate or
strigillose. Stems 1-6 dm. high, erect. or ascending, branching,
spreading, strigillose on the ingles, often glabrate or glabrous and
glaucous, striate: above; stipules setaceous, often persisting ; peti-
oles 1-3 cm. long; leaves 6 cm.-i dm. long, oblong or linear-ob-
long in outline; leaflets 7-17, 2-5 cm. long, linear, linear-ob-
long or oblong-cuneate, obtuse, or acute at each end, apicil-
late, glabrous above, strigillose or glabrate, lighter and often
gláucpus beneath ; racemes terminal and axillary, 1-2 dm. long;
peduncles ancipital; flowers 5-10 mm. long, very short pedicelled;
bracts setacepus; calyx-teeth as long as the tube; corolla white,
turning purple; vexillum minutely pubescent; legume 3-5 cm.f
long, 3-4 mm. wide, linear or, slightly faldate, strigillose or gla-
brate ; seeds 6-10, oblong brown.
A very variable species with a. long and complicated list of sy-
nonyms. Known everywhere, in tropical and subtropical coun-
tries. Two distinct strains have been collected in the United
States, the brodder-obtuse leaved form occurs in East Florida, and
th^ narrow acute-leaved form {C, tenella) in Te^as, Arizona, etc.
O. Kuntze (Rev. Gen. PI. 173) has united C. purpurea and
several other species to C. villosa L. The latter has a villous
calyx with long, acuminate teeth and a short reflexed, tomentose
legume and is not known from America.
Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico. Also in East-
ern Central Amerida, Eastern South America to South Brazil, and
in the \yest Indies'.	‘	j s	*
Original locality; Ceylon. |
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NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
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