Lespedeza. LEGUMINOS^. 



3G7 



2. L. repens : prostrate or diffiisply procumbent, minutely pubescent witli 

 closely appresserl hairs, or nearly glabrous ; leaflets oval or obovate-ellipiical, 

 glabrous above, the uppermost emarginate or somewhat obcordate ; ])etioles 

 mostly very short ; peduncles axillary, filiform, simple, few-flow^ered ; the 

 lower ones (sometimes short) bearing apetalous flowers ; legumes minutely 

 pubescent, nearly orbicular. — L. repens, Bart. prodr.Jl. Philad. ? L. pros- 

 trata, Pursh, I. c. ; Nutt. ! I. c. ; DC. ! I. c. ; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 

 156. Hedysarum repens, Linn.! spec. (ed. \.) 2. p. 749 (pi. Gronov. '), 

 Sfed. 2. p. 1056, excl. syn. Dill. EUh. II. prostratum, Willd. ! I. c 



Dry sandy soil (Upper Canada, ex Hook.), New Jersey ! to Georgia ! 

 west to Kentucky ! and Louisiana ! Aug-Sept. — Stems several from the 

 same roof, often simple, very slender. Legumes as in the preceding species ; 

 from which it scarcely diflisrs except in the kind and degree of the j)ubescence, 

 the rather smaller flowers, and more slender habit. The very short jietioles 

 are not wholly constant, and equally exist in some states of L. procumbens. 

 — Hedysarum repens of Linnajus was founded entirely upon the Virginian 

 plant, and not upon Dill. EUh. t. 142, f. 169 (a Ceylonese Desmodium), as 

 has been supposed ; for the reference to Dillenius only malies its appearance 

 in the second edition of the Species Plantarum, ami Virginia is the only- 

 habitat given : hence we have restored the original specific name. 



3. L. violacea (Pers.) : stem erect or diflfuse, pubescent, branching ; leaf- 

 lets varying from oval-oblong to linear, hairy or canescent with appresed pu- 

 bescence beneatli, etiualling or longer than the petiole ; racemes axillary, 

 few-flowered, sometimes shorter than the leaves, and sometimes in part ex- 

 serted on slender peduncles ; apetalous flowers glomerate and subsessile in 

 the axils of the leaves ; legumes minutely pubescent with short appressed 

 hairs, or nearly glabrous, ovate, much longer than the calyx. — Pers. syn. 2. 

 p. 318 ; Pursh ! I. c. Hedysarum violaceum, Linn. ! sp)ec. 2. p. 749 (excL 

 syn. Gronov. !) ; Willd. ! I. c. H. frutescens, Linn. ! I. c. {pi. Gronov. .') 



a. diver gens : peduncles toward the extremity of the branches filiform and' 

 much longer than the leaves, the flowers rarely producing fruit ; leaflets oval 

 or oblong. — L. divergens, Pursh! l. c. ; DC. I. c. Hedysarum divereens, 

 Willd.! I.e. ^ 



0. sessiliflora : flowers somewhat glomerate on peduncles much shorter 

 than the leaves ; those at the base chiefly apetalous and fertile ; leaflets ob- 

 long or elliptical. — L. sessiliflora, Michx' I. c. (partly) ; Pursh ! I. c. ; Nutt. 

 I. c. ; DC. I. c. ; Ell. I. c. ; DarUngt. Jl. Cest. p. 420. Hedysarum viola- 

 ceum, Linn. ! in part ; Willd. ! I. c. (Varies with the leaflets shghtly pi>- 

 bescent and almost tomentose beneath.) 



y. angustifolia : peduncles short ; the flowers glomerate toward the extremi- 

 ty of the branches; petioles slender, mostly erect ; leaves much crowded above 



and fascicled on short branchlets ; leaflets nan-owly oblong or linear. L. 



reticulata, Pers. I. c. ; Nutt. ! I. c. ; DC. ! I. c. ; DarUngt. I. c. L. sessili- 

 flora, partly, Michx.! I. c. L. angustifolia, DarUngt. I. c. ed. 1. L. fru- 

 tescens, DC. I. c, not of Ell. Hedysarum reticulatum, Willd. ! I. c. H. 

 junceum, IValt. Medicago Virginica, Linn. ! I. c. (pi. Gronov. !) (Varies 

 with the leaves somewhat hairy beneath to canesccntly tomentose.) 



Borders of woods and thickets, Canada ! and Northern States ! to Florida.*" 

 and Louisiana! Aug.-Sept. — The Hedysarum violaceum of Linnaeus in- 

 cludes both L. divergens and L. sessiliflora, and to the same species L. 

 reticulata must certainly be referred. In comparing the size of the legume 

 with the calyx, it should be remembered that the petaliferous flowers in this 

 species seldom perfect fruit, and that the calyx of the apetalous ones is 

 smaller. The narrow-leaved variety is perhaps always erect. 



4. L. Stuvei (Nutt.) : stem nearly erect, branching, tomentose-pubescent ; 

 leaflets oval or roundish, pubescent or silky-tomentose, longer than the 



