﻿PULSE 
  FAMILY 
  135 
  

  

  2. 
  M. 
  officinalis 
  Willd. 
  YELLOW 
  SWEET 
  CLOVER. 
  A 
  stout, 
  upright, 
  

   branching 
  herb, 
  2-4 
  ft. 
  high, 
  looking 
  much 
  like 
  the 
  preceding 
  species, 
  

   but 
  coarser. 
  Flowers 
  yellow. 
  Waste 
  ground 
  and 
  roadsides. 
  Natu- 
  

   ralized 
  from 
  Europe. 
  

  

  XIV. 
  MEDICAGO 
  L. 
  

  

  Annual 
  or 
  perennial 
  herbs. 
  Leaves 
  petioled, 
  of 
  3 
  toothed 
  

   leaflets. 
  Flowers 
  in 
  terminal 
  and 
  axillary 
  spikes 
  or 
  racemes. 
  

   Calyx 
  5-toothed, 
  the 
  teeth 
  short 
  and 
  slender. 
  Standard 
  

   oblong, 
  much 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  wings 
  or 
  keel. 
  Stamens 
  10, 
  

   diadelphous. 
  Ovary 
  sessile. 
  Pod 
  1 
  -several-seeded, 
  coiled, 
  

   not 
  splitting 
  open, 
  often 
  spiny.* 
  

  

  1. 
  M. 
  sativa 
  L. 
  ALFALFA. 
  Perennial. 
  Stems 
  erect, 
  branching, 
  

   downy 
  when 
  young, 
  becoming 
  smooth 
  with 
  age, 
  2-3 
  ft. 
  high. 
  Leaves 
  

   short-petioled 
  ; 
  leaflets 
  obovate, 
  sharply 
  dentate 
  towards 
  the 
  apex, 
  

   obtuse 
  or 
  sometimes 
  notched 
  or 
  mncronate 
  ; 
  stipules 
  lanceolate, 
  entire. 
  

   Flowers 
  blue, 
  small, 
  in 
  rather 
  close 
  spikes. 
  Pods 
  downy, 
  coiled, 
  few- 
  

   seeded. 
  Introduced 
  from 
  Europe, 
  and 
  cultivated 
  for 
  hay 
  and 
  pasture.* 
  

  

  2. 
  M. 
  lupulina 
  L. 
  BLACK 
  MEDICK, 
  NONESUCH. 
  An 
  annual 
  or 
  

   biennial, 
  much-branched, 
  reclining 
  herb, 
  with 
  stems 
  6-20 
  in. 
  long. 
  

   Leaves 
  very 
  short-petioled 
  ; 
  leaflets 
  obovate, 
  acute, 
  ^-f 
  in. 
  long, 
  toothed 
  

   near 
  the 
  tip. 
  Flowers 
  small, 
  yellow, 
  in 
  short 
  spikes. 
  Pods 
  very 
  small, 
  

   1-seeded, 
  kidney-shaped, 
  black. 
  Roadsides 
  and 
  waste 
  ground, 
  adven- 
  

   tive 
  from 
  Europe. 
  

  

  XV. 
  PSORALEA 
  L. 
  

  

  Perennial 
  herbs 
  ; 
  whole 
  plant 
  glandular-dotted. 
  Leaves 
  of 
  

   3-5 
  leaflets 
  ; 
  stipules 
  united 
  with 
  the 
  petioles. 
  Flowers 
  in 
  axil- 
  

   lary 
  or 
  terminal 
  spikes 
  or 
  racemes. 
  Calyx 
  5-cleft, 
  the 
  lobes 
  

   nearly 
  equal. 
  Standard 
  ovate 
  or 
  orbicular 
  ; 
  keel 
  incurved, 
  

   obtuse. 
  Stamens 
  monadelphous 
  or 
  diadelphous, 
  5 
  of 
  the 
  anthers 
  

   often 
  undeveloped. 
  Ovary 
  nearly 
  sessile. 
  Pod 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  

   calyx, 
  often 
  wrinkled, 
  remaining 
  closed, 
  1-seeded.* 
  

  

  1. 
  P. 
  pedunculata 
  Vail. 
  SAMSON'S 
  SNAKEROOT. 
  Stem 
  erect, 
  slen- 
  

   der, 
  branching 
  above, 
  downy, 
  1-2 
  ft. 
  high. 
  Leaves 
  of 
  3 
  leaflets 
  ; 
  

   petioles 
  shorter 
  than 
  the 
  leaflets 
  ; 
  stipules 
  awl-shaped 
  ; 
  leaflets 
  ellip- 
  

   tical 
  or 
  oblong-lanceolate, 
  sparingly 
  glandular-dotted, 
  the 
  terminal 
  

   one 
  stalked. 
  Loosely 
  flowered 
  spikes 
  axillary 
  and 
  terminal, 
  on 
  pedun- 
  

   cles 
  much 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  leaves. 
  Flowers 
  blue 
  or 
  purple, 
  about 
  in. 
  

   long. 
  Pod 
  compressed-globose, 
  wrinkled 
  transversely. 
  Dry 
  soil.* 
  

  

  2. 
  P. 
  tenuiflora 
  Pursh. 
  Upright, 
  slender, 
  bushy 
  and 
  branching, 
  

   2-4 
  ft. 
  high, 
  covered 
  when 
  young 
  with 
  a 
  fine 
  grayish 
  down. 
  Leaves 
  

  

  