344 



FABACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



2. Thermopsis rhombifolia (Nutt.) Rich- 

 ards. Prairie Thermopsis or False 

 Lupine. Fig. 2452. 



Cytisus rhombifolius Nutt. Eraser's Cat. 1813. 

 Thermia rhombifolia Nutt. Gen. i: 282. 1818. 



Thermopsis rhombifolia Richards, Frank. Journ. 

 App. 13. 1823. 



Erect, 8'-2o' high, branched, appressed silky- 

 pubescent. Leaves petioled ; leaflets' oval or obo- 

 vate or rhombic-elliptic, obtuse, entire, i'-ii' 

 long, 3"-6" wide, sessile ; stipules broad ; racemes 

 terminal or lateral, rather dense, few-flowered, 

 2'-$' long; pedicels 2" -4" long, bracted; flow- 

 ers yellow, about 10" long ; pod linear, gener- 

 ally strongly recurved-spreading, several-seeded, 

 stalked in the calyx, $'-4' long. 



In sandy soil, on plains and hills, North Dakota 

 to Nebraska. Kansas, Saskatchewan, Montana and 

 Colorado. Yellow or bush-pea. June-July. 



4. BAPTISIA Vent. Dec. Gen. Nov. 9. 1808. 



Perennial erect branching herbs, with sheathing basal scales, alternate 3-foliolate or 

 sometimes simple perfoliate leaves and showy yellow white or blue flowers in terminal or 

 lateral racemes. Stipules foliace'ous, or small, or none. Calyx campanulate, obtuse at base, 

 or sometimes slightly turbinate, the teeth equal and separate, or the two upper ones united. 

 Corolla and stamens as in Thermopsis. Ovary stipitate. Pod stalked, ovoid, oblong or nearly 

 globose, pointed, inflated, the valves often coriaceous. [Greek, dyeing.] 



About 24 species, natives of eastern and southern North America. Type species : Sophora 

 alba L. 



Flowers blue ; plant glabrous. i- B. australis. 

 Flowers yellow. 



Racemes numerous, terminal ; plant glabrous. 2. B. tinctoria. 



Racemes few, lateral ; plant more or less pubescent. 3- B. villosa. 

 Flowers white or cream color. 



Very pubescent. 4- B. bracteata. 

 Glabrous or nearly so. 



Leaflets oblong or lanceolate, green in drying. 5- B. alba. 



Leaflets obovate-cuneate, black in drying. 6. B. leucantha. 



i. Baptisia australis (L.) R. Br. Blue Wild 

 or Blue False Indigo. Fig. 2453. 



Sophora australis L. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, 2: 287. 1767. 

 B. australis R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. Ed. 2, 3 : 6. 1811. 



Glabrous, stout, 4-6 high. Leaves short-petioled, 

 3-foliolate; leaflets oblanceolate or sometimes oval, 

 obtuse at the apex, cuneate at the base, entire, i'-2$' 

 long, sessile or nearly so ; stipules lanceolate, equalling 

 the petioles, or longer, persistent ; racemes terminal, 

 erect, loosely flowered, elongated (sometimes 10' long); 

 bracts narrow, caducous; pedicels 2" -3" long; flowers 

 indigo-blue, g"-i2" long; pod oblong, stout-stalked in 

 the calyx, I'-ii' long, 5" -6" thick, tipped with the sub- 

 ulate style. 



In rich soil. District of Columbia to western Pennsyl- 

 vania, Missouri, Kansas, Georgia and Texas. Naturalized 

 in the Connecticut River Valley, in Vermont, escaped 

 from cultivation. June-Aug. Rattle-bush. 



A hybrid of this species with B. bracteata has been 

 observed by Prof. A. S. Hitchcock in Kansas. 



