PULSE FAMILY. 105 



i- H- Stems erect, 2 - 6 high : stipules and bracts mostly awl-shaped, small and 

 inconspicuous or early deciduous : racemes panicled. 



*+ Common petiole slender : flowers smallish : joint ft of pod 3-5, unequal-sided. 



D. viridifl6rum. Stem and lower surface of the broad ovate blunt leaf- 

 lets clothed with white and soft-velvety down. Pine-barrens, from New Jersey S. 



D. laevigatum. Stem and the thickish ovate and bluntish leaflets smooth 

 or nearly so. From New Jersey S. 



D. Dill6nii. Stem and the oblong or oblong-ovate bluntish thin leaflets 

 finely pubescent ; the latter 2' - 3' long. 



D. paniculatum. Smooth or nearly so throughout ; leaflets lanceolate 

 or lance-oblong, tapering to a blunt point, 3'- 5' long ; panicle loose. 



D. Strictum. Slender stems smooth below, above and the narrow panicle 

 rough-glandular; leaflets linear, blunt, reticulated, very smooth, l'-2' long. 

 From New Jersey S. 



w- -< Common petiole very short. 



D. Canadense. Stem hairy, 3 -6 high, leafy up to the panicle ; leaf- 

 lets lance-oblong, blunt, 2' -3' long; racemes dense, the pink-purple flowers 

 larger than in any other, fully ' long ; bracts large, conspicuous before flower- 

 ing. Chiefly N. & W. 



D. sessilifolium. Stem pubescent, 2 -4 high; the long panicle naked ; 

 common petiole hardly any; leaflets linear or linear-oblong, blunt, reticulated, 

 rough above, downy beneath ; flowers small. Penn. to 111. & S. 



>--(-->- Steins ascending or spreading, 1 3 long: stipules and bracts inrl- 

 shaped and deciduous : panicle naked, loose : flowers small : pod of 2 or 3 

 small oval or roundish joints. 



D. rigidum. The largest of this section, with rough-pubescent stems 

 sometimes erect ; leaflets ovate-oblong, blunt, thickish, roughish and reticulated, 

 1' - 2^' long, longer than the common petiole. 



D. ciliare. More or less hairy, slender, very leafy ; common petiole very 

 short ; leaflets round-ovate or oval, thickish, ' - 1' long. 



D. Marilandicum. Smooth or nearly so, slender ; leaflets ovate or 

 roundish, thin, the lateral ones about the length of the slender petiole : other- 

 wise like the preceding. 



t H- -i- H- Stems reclining or prostrate: racemes axillary and terminal. 



D. lineatum. Smoothish ; stem striatc-anglcd ; stipules awl-shaped, 

 deciduous ; leaflets orbicular, 1' or less in length, much longer than the common 

 petiole ; flowers and 2 or 3 rounded joints of the pod small. Pine-barrens from 

 Maryland S. 



D. rotundif61ium. Soft-hairy; stems running 3 - 5 along the ground; 

 leaflets orbicular, about 3' long ; stipules ovate, striate, taper-pointed, per.-i>t- 

 ent ; flowers and the 3-5 rhombic-oval joints of the pod rather large. 



2. Exotic, conservatory species. 



D. g^rans, of East Indies, one of the most extraordinary plants known, 

 is readily grown as a tender annual : the smooth leaves are remarkable for their 

 movements ; the end leaflet slowly changing position with the light ; the lateral 

 ones, very much smaller, moving pretty rapidly up and down, in elliptical 

 sweeps, through the day when the temperature is about 80 Fahr. 



18. ^ISCHYNOMENE, SENSITIVE JOINT -VETCH. (From 

 Greek word meaning ashamed, the leaflets of some species being more or less 

 sensitive to the touch in the manner of the common Sensitive Plant.) Sta- 

 mens commonly in two sets of 5 each. Pod resembling that of Desmodium. 

 Fl. summer. 

 7F.. hispida. Stem rough-bristly, 2 -4 high ; leaflets very many, broadly 



linear ; joints of the bristly pod 6 - 10, nearly square. Low grounds from 



Penn. S. 



.33. viscidula. Stems clammy-pubescent, slender, spreading on the ground ; 



leaflets 7-9, obovate ; joints of the bristly pod 2 or 3, half-orbicular. Sandy 



shores S. 



