Dalea. LEGUMINOSyE. 307 



and almost glabrous on^ the upper surface ; spikes aggregated in a terminal 

 subsessile panicle; tlowers nearly sessile; teeth of the calyx rather long, 

 ovate-lanceolate, etjuul ; vexillum subcunciform-orbicular or somewhat ob- 

 cordate, briglit blue; legume scarcely twice the length of the calyx, 1-seeded. 

 — NiUt.! in Fras. cat., c^- sren. 2. p. 92; DC. prodr. 2. p. 256; Pursh! 

 fl. 2. p. 467; Ilook.jl. Hor^-Am. 1. /;. 139. 



Dry prairies and sandy places, from Red River, British America, Dong- 

 las ; and St. Croix River, Dr. Iloughtun ! to Louisiana! and Texas ! west 

 to the Rocky Mountains. Near Augusta, Georgia, Dr. LearenwoTth ! July 

 -Aug. — Plant 1-3 feet high. Leaflets usually less than half an inch in 

 length, somewhat pellucid-punctate ; the dots reddish-brown when old. 

 Spikes rather short and dense : flowers showy. — Lead-plant. Supposed to 

 indicate the presence of Lead-ore. 



27. DALEA. Linn.; Mich.v.! f. 2. p. 56; DC. prodr. 2. p. 244. 



Calyx often glandular, 5-cleft or 5-toothed ; the segments nearly equal. 

 Petals unguiculate; the claws of the wings and keel united Avith the stamen- 

 tube to the middle, deciduous by an articulation : vexillum free, inserted at 

 the bottom of the calyx ; the limb cordate. Stamens 10 (rarely 9), monadel- 

 phous ; the tube cleft. Ovary with 2 collateral ovules.* Legume membra- 

 naceous, enclosed in the calyx, indehiscent, 1-seeded. — Herbaceous or some- 

 what shrubby plants, dotted with glands. Leaves unequally pinnate (rarely 

 trifoUolate), exstipellate. Stipules minute, setaceous. Spikes pedunculate, 

 terminal or opposite the leaves, dense, often capitate, rarely loosely -flowered. 



1. D. laxiflora (Pursh) : glabrous ; stem branched above (tall), erect ; 

 leaflets 4-5 pairs, linear-oblong; spikes panicled, interrupted, few- (10-15-) 

 flowered, the flowers distant ; bracts very broad, embracing the flower, coria- 

 ceous, glabrous; calyx Avith long setaceous plumose teeth; stamens 9. — 

 Pursh! ft. 2. p. 741; NiM. gen. 2. p. 101; DC. prodr. 2. p. 244. Cylopo- 

 gon virgatum, Raf. in jour. phys. Aug. 1819, p. 97. 



Hills and prairies of the Missouri, and Mississippi, Bradbury ! Nuttall! 

 On the Platte, Dr. James ! Arkansas, Dr. Leacenworth ! Texas, Drum- 

 mond ! — "4 Stem with numerous slender somewhat spreading branches, 

 3-4 feet high. Leaflets 2-3 lines long, and about half a line wide, strongly 

 dotted. Racemes 2-3 inches long. Bract? almost orbicular, glandular, slightly 

 cuspidate. Calyx deeply cleft, beautifully plumose. Corolla white : keel 

 twice as long as the Avings: vexillum cordate, very small, sometimes with 4 

 approximated glands near the middle. — In our Texan specimens the seg- 

 ments of the calyx are remotely denticulate, a character which we have not 

 observed in the plant from other localities. 



2. D. lanuginosa (Nutt. ! mss.): decumbent, canescently tomentose; leaf- 

 lets 4-6 pairs, obovate-cuneate, emarginate; glands few, large; spikes elon- 

 gated, rather loose ; bracts ovate, with a long acumination ; teeth of the 

 calyx plumose, subulate, dilated at the base, as long as the tube. 



Gravellv banks and islands of the Arkansas, near Fort Smith, Nuttall! 

 On the Platte, Dr. James! — 11 Whole plant clothed with a soft almost 

 woolly pubescence ; the branches prostrate and spreading widely in a circu- 

 lar manner. Leaflets 5-6 lines long and about 2 lines Avide. Spikes usually 

 opposite the leaves, 2-3 inches in length, on moderately long peduncles, 



• This is also the case in Onobrychis. 



