328 LEGUMINOS^. Astragalus. 



ing from the base ; leaflets oblong and cuncate-oblong. obtuse ; peduncles 

 longer than the leaves ; bract of a single leaflet ; calyx as long as the corolla; 

 legume almost flat, glabrous. 



" Gravel-bars and sandy shores of the Wahlamet, bear the Falls. June. — 

 About a span high, moderately branching. Bract small." Nuttall.'^Ovir spe- 

 cimens are very much like those of H. floribunda. 



Thibe V. ASTRAGALE^. Adans. 



Corolla papilionaceous. Stamens monadelphous (9 & 1). Legume 

 continuous, turgid or inflated (rarely flattened), often spuriously 2-ceIl- 

 ed or partly 2.ce!led by the introflexion of one of the sutures, deliis. 

 cent, several- (rarely 1-2 ) seeded. Radicle incurved. — Erect or de- 

 cumbent, herbaceous or rarely sufi'Vutescent plants. Leaves unequally 

 pinnate (very rarely palmately tnfoliolate). or seldom reduced to a 

 single leaflet," exstipellate. Inflorescence axillary or radical, racemose 

 or spicate. 



33. ASTRAGALUS. Linn, (partly) ; DC. Asirag., ^ prodr. 2. p. 2S1. 



Calyx 5-toothed. Keel obtuse. Legume longitudinally 2-cclled, or partly 

 2-celled, by the introflexion of the lower suture.— Herbaceous or sufliuticose 

 plants, commonly more or less canescent ; the hairs often fixed by the middle.* 

 Leaves unequally pinnate, with numerous leaflets. Stipules often adnata to 

 the base of the pjtiole. Flowers spiked or racemose, rarely solitary. 



§ 1. Stipules not adnate to the petiole: flowers purple or u7ii7e.— Purpu- 

 rascentes, DC. 



* Stipules partly cohering vxith each other opposite the petiole. 



1. A. Hypoglottis (Linn.): procumbent, di 0*0 se, somewhat hirsute; sti- 

 pules lanceolate, more or less cohering; leaflets 8-10-12 pairs, obovate or 

 elliptical; spikes capitate ; peduncles longer than the leaves; bracts longer 

 than the blackish pilose calyx; teeth of the calyx as long as the tv.be; legume 

 ovate, triquetrous, erect, capitate; cells mostly 1-seeded. Eng. hot. t. 274; 

 DC. Astrag. t. 14, 4^ prodr. 2. p. 281 ; Hook.! fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 148. 



a. 7 polyspermus: dwarfish and much branched, somewhat decumbent, 

 pubescent; leaflets elliptical and obvate-oblong, sometimes emarginate; 

 peduncles as long as the leaves ; calyx longer than the bracts, very hir- 

 sute, the hairs partly black ; the teeth scarcely half as long as the tube ; 

 legume oblong ; cells 3-4-seeded.— A. Hypoglottis, Kutt. ! gen. 2. p. 99 ; 



* De Candolle {prodr. 2. p. 294) notices the centrally-fixed hairs of Astragalus 

 asper, and employs tlie character in his diagnosis of that species. He intimates 

 also (ill mem. Leg.) that the same kird of hairs exist in some other Astragali. We 

 have observed them in many of the species in which the pubescence is appressed ; 

 particularly in the following :— A. Moitoni, Nu!t. ; Leontiniis, Jacq.; Austriacus, 

 Linn.; subulatus, Bicb. ; cornic.ulatus, 5ic6. ; ceratoides, Bieb. ; virgatus, Pft//. ; 

 Hyrcanus, Pall.; brachylobus, DC. ; Stevenianus, DC. ; linearifolius, Pen. ; Ono- 

 hxycWis, Linn. ; aduncus, Bicb.; adsurgens, P«//. ; Laxmanni, P«?/. ; Missouri- 

 ensis, J^utt. ; megalanthus, DC. ; albii auhs, DC. ; hamosus, Linn. ; microphylhis, 

 Linn.; depressus, L-wm. ; Canad.^nsis, Linn.; uliginosus, Linn.; Massilensis, 

 Lam. ; ammodytes, Pall. ; Monspessulanus, Linn. ; & incanus, Linn. 



