114 PEA FAMILY (PULSE FAMILY) 



them in their shorter seedpods of one, or rarely two joints, 

 and in their short, dense spikes of white or purple flowers. 

 L. hirta, two to four feet tall, has three-foliate leaves of 

 oval or roundish leaflets, and small yellowish white flowers. 

 It is common in dry pinelands, where it blooms in summer 

 and autumn. 



DoLiCHOLUS (Genus Dolicholus {Rynchosia)) 



Several peas of this genus are common in dry soil. The 

 small yellow flowers, the somewhat two-lipped calyx, with 

 the three lower lobes narrowly pointed and longer than 

 the two upper lobes, the resinous-dotted pubescent leaves 

 of one or three broad leaflets, and the short, flat seedpods 

 containing one or two brown or mottled seeds, are char- 

 acteristics by which this genus may be identified. 



D. minimus, with three-foliate leaves in which the ter- 

 minal one is larger and broader than the oblique lateral 

 leaflets, is a slender vine that spreads its abundant growth 

 over grasses and low shrubs. Dollar-weed, D. simplici' 

 folius, a small, erect plant, with one-foliate, orbicular, 

 softly hairy leaves, which are one to two inches long, and 

 are usually broader than long, bears sessile or short-stalked 

 axillary racemes near the summit of the stem. D. mollissi' 

 mus, also an erect plant, has elongated terminal racemes, 

 and three-foliate leaves. D. Michauxii, prostrate and twin- 

 ing, often has both one-foliate and three-foliate leaves, the 

 latter being near the tips of the stems, and the calyx is 

 longer than the small flower. 



Cherokee Bean. Coral Plant (Genus Erythrina) 



The beautiful coral tree of India which, according to 

 legend, bloomed in the gardens of heaven until it was stolen 

 by Krishna, when it was therefore banished and condemned 

 to grow on earth, has a striking relative among our native 

 plants — the brilliant Cherokee bean, whose red flowers 



