274 LEGUMINOS^. Lathyrcs. 



Hook. ! ji. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 158; Hook. ^ Am. ! hot. Beechey, p. 123. Pi- 

 sura maritimum, Linn.; Eng. hot. t. 1047 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 368 (p. gla- 

 brum, Ser.) ; Bong. veg. SUcha, I. c. p. 130. 



Sandy or stony shores, from Labrador to New- York! and from Kotzebue's 

 Sound! to Oregon! and California: also around the shores of the Great 

 Lakes ! and along the rivers, &c. to the shores of the Arctic Sea (Richard- 

 son). May-July. — The whole plant has a somewhat glaucous aspect, and 

 much the habit of a Pea. The leaflets (often scattered) are commonly from 

 li to 2 inches in length, and |-1 inch wide, with reticulated veins ; in shady 

 situations the stem is more slender, less leafy, and the leaflets rather smaller. 

 Stipules usually toothed below, cordate-hastate, the lower angle or lobe acute, 

 often more or less inequilateral. Peduncles 6-10-flowered. Flowers large 

 and showy, purple; the wings and keel paler. Lower segment of the calyx 

 linear, a little narrower, and slightly exceeding the lateral ones. The speci- 

 mens from Arctic America are smaller and fewer-flowered. — Our specimen 

 of L. pisiformis from Altaic Siberia, communicated by Prof. Fischer, dif- 

 fers from our various forms of the plant above described in having a narrow- 

 ly winged stem, much larger and semisagittate stipules, and somewhat ovate- 

 oblong leaflets. We perceive no other diff"erence of any importance ; but, as 

 these may be expected to prove nearly constant, we have thought it best to 

 retain the specific name of Bigelow for the present, since our plant is doubt- 

 less the same as the Pisum maritimum of the North of Europe. 



3. L. polyphijlhis (Natt.l mss.): "glabrous; stem nearly erect; angled, 

 leaflets 5-8 pairs, oval-oblong, obtusish, the tendrils very short ; stipules as 

 large as the leaflets, semicordate, angularly crenate at the base, sometimes 

 acuminate; peduncles 7-10-flowered ; shorter than the leaves ; segments of 

 the calyx hairy on the margin, the two upper ones triangular and much 

 shorter than the lanceolate lateral ones, the inferior one subulate-setaceous, 

 rather longest ; corolla purple ; legume smooth, acuminated, long and flat. 



" /?. angles of the stem acute ; stipules broadly semisagittate. 



" Forests of the Oregon to the sea ; in shady places.— Stem about 2 feet 

 high. Leaflets 1^ inch long, and half an inch or more wide. Flowers ra- 

 ther large. — Considerably allied to L. pulchellus of Altai, but with more flow- 

 ers on the peduncle." Niitt. — This plant is probably included by Hooker 

 among the "more lax and flaccid forms of L. pisiformis apparently inhabit- 

 ing woody districts ;" and we should incline to take the same view of it ; 

 but the setaceous inferior segment of the calyx, and the rather shorter supe- 

 rior teeth wiU perhaps prove a constant distinction. 



■ 4. L. venosus (Muhl.) : glabrous or somewhat pubescent ; stem erect or 

 'reclined, strongly 4-angled ; leaflets 5-7 pairs, ovate-oblong or broadly ovate- 

 elliptical, obtuse ; stipules very small, lanceolate or oval, semisagittate (the 

 deflexed lobe about as long as the superior portion) ; peduncles many-(8-16-) 

 flowered, rather shorter than the leaves; calyx pubescent or nearly glabrous; 

 the 2 upper segments very broad and short (not half the length of the lateral 

 ones) ; corolla purple ; legumes linear-oblong, compressed. — Muhl. in Willd. 

 sp. 3. p. 1092, I cat. p. 68 ; Pursh, Ji. 2. p. 471; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 96; DC. 

 prodr. 2. p. 371. 



/?. robust ; leaflets larger (2-3 inches long), oblong-ovate ; stipules linear- 

 lanceolate ; peduncles 10-20-flowered. 



y. minutely downy-pubescent ; leaflets rather broadly elliptical or ovate- 

 elliptical; stipules linear-lanceolate; peduncles 10-20-floAvered ; calyx and 

 pedicels densely pubescent. — L. decaphyllus. Hook. ! ji. Bor.-Avi. 1. p. 159, 

 <^ in hot. mag. t. 3123; Hook. ^ Am. hot. Beechey, p. 138, not of Pursh. 

 L. multiflorus, Nutt. ! mss. 



&.1 smaller, finely pubescent ; leaflets 3-5 pairs, ovate-elliptical, smaller; 

 stipules linear-lanceolate ; peduncles 5-7-flowered. — L. pubescens, Nutt. .' 

 mss. L. decaphyllus P. minor. Hook. <^ Am. I. c. ? 



