98 DIADELPIIIA. DECANDRIA. 



ces? V. V. Collected also in China by Sir G. Staunton, v. s.. 

 in Herb. Lambert. Oes. Nearl} stemless and liirsutely 

 pilose, leaflets oval, or obIong--ova!, above smooth: pedun- 

 cles various, equal with or shorter than the leaves; spikes 

 subcapitate; flowers ochroleucous, small; legume canes* 

 cently villous, teretely subcymbirorm. 



2. * caspitosa. Cespitose, canescently villous, and stem- 

 Jess; leaves digitate, ternate and quinaie; leaflets lanceo- 

 late, acute at each end; flowers scapeless, aggreg-ated, sti- 

 pules membranaceous, aniorjihous; lee^ume pubescent, 

 subcylindric. Astragalus triplw'liis. Ph. 2. p. 740. Had. On 

 arid gravelly hills near the confluence of Sawanee river and 

 the Missouri. Obs. Plants aggregated in numerous tufts; 

 raudex short and proliferous; petioles 2 to 3 inches long, 

 leaflets about an inch, somewhat shining; flowers sessile 

 on tlie candex, aggregated in dense clusters, and as well 

 as the leaves subtended by broad slieathing and amor- 

 phous meiTibranaceous scales; calix pilose, cylindric, near 

 an inch long, border subulately 5-toothed; corolla ochro- 

 leucous, exserled beyond the calix nearly its length; le- 

 gume short. — Flov.'ering in May. 



A small genus chiefly indigenous to Europe and Siberia . 



499. OXYTROPIS. Decandolle, Astragalus. L. 

 Carina terminating above in a subulate ap- 

 pendage. Legume bilocular or subbilocular, 

 the upper suture inflected. 



Habit similar to Astragalus. 



Species. 1. O. Lambertii. Ph. Cespitose, and stem« 

 less; leaflets numerous, linear-lanceolate, strigose, and ra- 

 ther remote; common petiole very long; scape longer than 

 the leaves, spike oblong, bractes lanceolate, shorter than 

 the silky calix. Hab. On the woodless hills of the Mis- 

 souri, from the river Platte to the Mountains. Mr. 

 Pursh's character is taken from a solitary, luxuriant and 

 cultivated specimen, which I obtained from seeds, and is 

 inapplicable in nature. Obs. Flowers bright purple, ca- 

 rina with a subulate appendage; legume smooth, black, 

 iitul small, subterete, acuminate, and partly bilocular. 

 Flowering in May and June. 



A genus containing near 50 species, principally indige- 

 nous to Siberia, with the exception of a fevv^ species in Eu- 

 rope and the Levant. 



500. ASTRAGALUS, i. (Milk-Vetch.) 

 Carina obtuse. Legume bilocular, or subbi- 

 locular, inferior isutur^ inflected. 



