Genus 26. 



PEA FAMILY. 



19. Astragalus flexuosus (Hook.) Dougl. Flexile 

 Alilk \'etch. Fig. 2552. 



Phaca eloitgata Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 140. 1S30. Not Astragalus 



elongaliis Willd. 1S03. 

 Phaca flc.viiosa Hook. FI. Bor. Am. i : 141. 1830. 

 Astragalus flc.vuosus Dougl.; Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 140. 1830. 



Erect or ascending, finely pubescent, branching from the 

 base, i^-ii" high. Stipules ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 2"-^" 

 long; leaflets 9-21, linear, oblong or oblanceolate, obtuse or 

 emarginate at the apex, narrowed or cuncate at the base, 3"-6" 

 long; peduncles exceeding the leaves; flowers purple or pur- 

 plish, 4"-$" long; pod i-celled, sessile, cylindric, linear or 

 linear-oblong, puberulent, dehiscent, pointed, 8"-i2" long. 



Prairies and plains, Minnesota to Kansas, Saskatchewan, Al- 

 berta and Colorado. June-Aug. 



27. PHACA L. Sp. n. 755. 1753. 



Perennial herbs, similar to Astragalus, mostly with pinnate 

 leaves, and racemed or spicate, purplish or purple flowers. Pod 

 much inflated, membranous in texture, strictly i-celled, neither 

 of the sutures intruded. [Greek, Lentils.] 



-A. large genus, mainly of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, 

 species occur in the western parts of North America. Type species : Phaca baetica 

 Leaflets 7-21, ol)]ong. elliptic or ovate. 



Pod stalked ; flowers slender-pedicelled. 



Pod sessile ; flowers short-pedicelled. 

 Leaflets only i, or sometimes 3-5, very narrowly linear. 



num 

 L. 



1. P. 



2. P. 



3. P. 



erous other 



aiiiencaiia. 



ncglccta. 



longifolia. 



I. Phaca americana (Hook.) Rydb. Arctic Milk 

 Vetch. Fig. 2553. 



P. frigiJa var. americana Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 140. 1830. 

 Astragalus frigidus var, aniericanus S. W'ats. Bibl. Index, i : 



193. 187S. 

 Phaca americana Rydb.; Britt. & Brown, 111. Fl. 2: 304. 1897. 



Erect, nearly simple, glabrous, i-2 high. Stipules folia- 

 ceous, ovate-oblong, 2"-6" long; leaflets 7-17, oval or ovate- 

 lanceolate, 9"-iS'' long: peduncles generally exceeding the 

 leaves ; flowers white, 8"-9" long, in loose racemes ; pedi- 

 cels filiform, V long in fruit; pod i-celled, stipitate, in- 

 flated, membranous, io"-i2" long, acute at each end, ob- 

 long, dehiscent at maturity, glabrous, shining. 



In wet rocky places, Qiiel)ec to British Columbia and Alaska, 

 south to South Dakota and in the Rocky Mountains to Wyo- 

 ming. June-July. 



2. Phaca neglecta T. & G. Cooper's Milk Vetch. 

 Fig- 2554. 



Phaca neglecta T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 344. 1838. 

 Astragalus Cooperi .A.. Gray, Man. Ed. 2, 98. 1856. 

 Astragalus ncglectus Sheldon, Bull. Geol. Surv. Minn. 9 : 59. 



1894. 



Glabrous or nearly so, erect, i-2 high. Stipules ovate, 

 acute, I "-2" long; leaflets 9-21, thin, oblong or elliptic, 

 often minutely pubescent beneath, 8"-i2" long, obtuse or 

 emarginate at the apex, narrowed at the base ; peduncles 

 shorter than or equalling the leaves ; flowers white, $"-7" 

 long, in rather loose spikes ; calyx pubescent with blackish 

 hairs, its teeth subulate; pod l-celled, sessile, the ventral 

 suture somewhat intruded, inflated, coriaceous, ovoid, acute, 

 glabrous, slightly furrowed along both sutures, 6"-io" long, 

 5"-6" thick. 



On banks and shores, Quebec to Niagara, west to Minnesota 

 and Iowa. June-July. 



2.'5 



