342 LEGUMINOSiE. Phaca. 



§ 3. Stems elongated: stipules not adnate to the petiole: leajlets not ver- 

 ticillate. — Caulescentes, DC. 



16. O. deflexa (DC.) : stem ascending, somewhat hairy ; leaflets ovate- 

 lanceolate, pubescent ; peduncles much longer than the leaves ; legumes pen- 

 dulous, hairy, 1-celled, opening widely at the summit. DC. prodr. 2. p. 280; 

 Richards, app. Frankl. journ. ed. 2. p. 28 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Ain. 1. p. 148. 

 Astragalus deflexus, Pall, in mem. acad. St. Petersh. 1776, t. 15; Uller. 

 stirp. t. 80, ex DC. A. hians, Jacq. ic. rar. t. 252, ex DC. A. parviflorus, 

 La7n. A. retroflexus. Pall. A.strag. t. 27. 



/?. sericea : leave? silky-villous. 



Banks of the Sa katchaw^an, Richardson., Drummnnd. /?. Rocky Moun- 

 tains near streams, Nutiall! — Flowers very small. Fruit large. Hock. /?. 

 Branching from the base. Scapes 6-12 inches long. Spikes subglobose or 

 ovate. Flowers about J of an inch long. Calyx villous, with a mixture of 

 blackish hairs ; teeth subulate, nearly as long as the tube, and spreading. Co- 

 rolla a little exceeding the calyx, pale dull purple, mixed with white. Keel 

 with a short but acute point. Legume | of an inch long, very acute, sessile. 



35. PHACA. Li7in.; DC. Astrag., ^ prodr.2. p. 273. 



Calyx 5-toothed or 5-cleft ; the 2 upper teeth often a little remote from each 

 other. Keel obtuse. Legume mostly turgid or inflated, 1-celled ; the upper 

 or placental suture somewhat tumid. — Mostly perennial herbs, with axillary 

 pedunculate racemes. Legumes when mature often resupinate by the twist- 

 ing ol the pedicels. 



§ 1. (angen. ?) Leaves palmatehj trifoliolate. {Acaidescent^densely cces- 

 pitose: stijmles scarioiis, uniled. beneath the petiole: Jloxcers sessile at 

 the base of the leaves, or on short scapes.) — Orophaca. 



1. P. ccespitosa (Nutt.) : stemless, csespitose, silky -pubescent and silvery; 

 root fusiform ; caudex very short; leaves on long petioles ; leaflets lanceolate, 

 acute at each end ; stipules (large) ovate, very thin and scaricus ; flowers 

 (ochroleucous) aggregated and sessile at the base of the leaves ; calyx cylin- 

 drical, with short sibulate teeth ; legume silky-vi louf, oblong-ovate, terete, in- 

 cluded in the calyx.— A''?/«..' gen.'2.p. 98; DC. prodr. 2. p. 274; Hock. f. 

 Ror.-Am. 1. p. 443, t. 55. Astragalus triphyllus, Pursh ! Ji. 2. p. 740, not of 

 Pallas. 



Dry gravelly hills of the upper part of the Missouri, Bradlnry ! Nttttall ! 

 and on the Saskatchawan, Richardson, Drummond. May.— Pvoot thick 

 and perpendicular, Avilh numerous veiy short heads at the summit. Petioles 

 2-3 inches long : leaflets (sometimes 5, ex Nutt.) nearly an inch long, atten- 

 uate at the base, clothed with a short shining closely oppressed pubescence. 

 Flowers rather large, aggregated in a dense cluster which is closely sessile on 

 the summit of the^caudex. Bracts like the stipules. Calyx at length a little 

 inflated and somewhat campanulate. 



2. P. argophylla (Nutt. mss.): " stemless, cac^pitose, densely silky-villous 

 and silvery ; leaflets short, cuncatc-oblanceolate, rather obtuse; stipules scari- 

 ous. bifid and acute ; flowers (ochroleucous) densely aggregated and sessile 

 at the base of the leaves ; teeth of the calyx subulate, nearly as long as the 

 tube ; legumes short and roundi-h, densely villous. 



" Summits of mountains on the upper waters of the Platte. — A very curi- 

 ous species, nearly related to P. cKspitosa, but with broader and shorter leaf- 



