4/6 UlADELPHIA DECANDRXA. Psoralca, 



petiolata, digitato-quinata. Foliola subpetiolata, lanceo- 

 iata, utrinque acuta, integerrima, plana, supra glabra, 

 punctis vix conspicuis confertissime adspersa, subtus 

 pilosa, uncialia. Pelioli communes teretes, folio lon- 

 giores. Stipulcc persistentes, ad basin petiolorum op- 

 positae, oblongo-lanceolatse, acutae. Spices axillares, 

 pedunculatae, densiflorae, bracteatae, foliis longiores. 

 Bractece lato-ovatae, acuminatae, calyce breviores. 

 Flores sessiles, cserulei, magnitudine et figura Vicus 

 sutivce. Calyx hirsutissimus, 5-fidus s. profunde 5- 

 dentatus : dentibus lineari-lanceolatis : 2. lateralibus 

 subfalcatis : inferus latior. Corolla : Fexilium obo- 

 vaUnn, inferne utrinque glandula instructum, calyce 

 paulo longiore. Jlce serai-ovatae, vexillo breviores. 

 Carina oblonga. Legumen calyce tectum, monosper- 

 mum, hirsiutum, rostro ensiforrai, glabro, calyce lon- 

 giore instructum. Sewen reniforme, nigrum. 

 It approaches very near to P. pentaphylla Willd. sp. 

 pi. 3. p. 1352. which is fully described and figured by 

 B. Jussieu in Jet. par. 1744. p. 381. ^ 17- But not 

 only the botanical diflerence, but the. medical use 

 made of the Mexican plant, proves their distinctness. 

 The present plant produces the famous Bread-root of 

 the American Western Indians, on which they partly 

 subsist in winter. They collect them in large quanti- 

 ties, and if for present use, they roast them in the ashes, 

 when they give a food similar to yams : if intended 

 for winter use, they are carefully dried, and preserved 

 ill a dry place in their huts. When wanted for use, 

 they are mashed between two stones, mixed with some 

 water, and baked in cakes over the coals. It is a 

 wholesome and nourishing food, and, according to 

 Mr. Lewis's observation, agreeable to most constitu- 

 tions ; which, he observed, was not the case with the 

 ^ rest of the roots collected by those Indians for food. 



This root has been frequently found by travellers in 

 the canoes of the Indians, but the plant which pro- 

 duces it has not been known until lately. 

 Lupinellus. 7« P* ioYm quino-digitatis : foliolis angustissime linearibus, 

 spica pauciflora, leguminibus ovoideis, uncinato-mu- 

 cronatis, nervoso-rugosis. — Mich.Ji. amer. 2. p. 58. 

 In barren fields of Carolina. 1/ . v.s. in Herb. Lyon. 

 Flowers very small. The leaves of the whole genus 

 are covered with resinous dots. 



