Lathyrus. LEGUMINOSiE. 277 



slendtT teeth. Flowers pale, the tip of the keel deep purple. [Corolla about 

 X of an inch in length, hut very narrc .v, 4 times lontfcr than the ealyx.J — 

 More of a Vicia than a Lathyrus ; but in habit, «tc. this and the succeeding 

 species are inseparable frtni the following species." Nvllull. 



11. /y. cii.s:<titif()li7is (Nutt. mss.) : '• somewhat pubescent, climbing ; U aflcfs 

 4-6 pairs, narrowly linear, rather obtuse, apiculate, scattered, the petiole thick 

 and channelled, terminating in apinnatihd tendril ; stipules linear, semisat;it- 

 tate, entire; peduncles 4-6-liowered, much shorter than the leaves; seg- 

 ments of the calyx short, the uppermost obtuse. 



" With the preceding, to which it is nearly allied ; but with a long weak 

 scandent stem and smaller entire stipules. Flowers smaller, pale purple. 

 Stigma tiattish, villous all round." NultaJI. — We have seen no specimen of 

 this plant ; but we fear it is not sufficiently distinct from the preceding. In 

 our specimen of L. linearis, the leatlets are more or less scattered (as is very 

 common in the genus), and the stipules occasionally have only one or two 

 teeth. 



12. L. ornatus (Nutt. ! mss.) : " erect, glabrous, often glaucous ; stem 

 quadrangular ; leaflets 3-4 pairs, lanceolate-linear, rather acute, mucronate, 

 rigid and strongly veined, tendril scarcely any ; stipules linear-lanceolate and 

 slender, semisagittate, entire; peduncles about 4- [or 6-8-] Howercd, 

 much longer than the leaves : flowers very large, purple ; segments of the 

 calyx subulate, slightly unequal, rather shorter than the tube ; legume sn colh 

 and flat, acuminate at each end, about 10-seeded ; style minutely pubescent 

 along the upper side." — L. polymorphus, Torr. ! in ami. lye. New- York, 2. 

 p. ISO, excl. syn. 



Kamassa prairies, common, A»«o//.' On the Missouri and Platte, Dr. 

 James! May-June. — Scarcely a foot high, sometimes branched. "Root 

 long and black", Nutt. Petioles very short, terminated with a small brittle. 

 Leaflets an inch or more in length, 1-2 lines wide. Stipules almost subu- 

 late, resembling the leaflets, f of an inch in lenjrth. Flowers very showy, an 

 inch long (as large as those of the cultivated Sweet Pea, A?//^), the vexil- 

 lum and winars broad. Calyx very smaU. The immature pods, in the spe- 

 cimen of Dr. James, are about 2 inches long, and nearly half an inch wide, 

 reticulated, tapering below into a distinct stipe. The seeds, according to 

 Dr. James, are as large as the Common Pea. — This species and L. polymor- 

 phus are (as the genera are characterized) rather species of Orobus than of 

 Lathyrus : they are clearly congeners of O. varius, O. albus, and others of the 

 same section ; but on the other hand they can hardly be separated with pro- 

 priety from L. linearis, Nittt.. which has tendrils and more the habit of the 

 present genus. The pubescence of the style in the species of Orobus we 

 have examined is the same as in Lathyrus. 



13. L. fohjmorplms (Nutt.) : mostly glabrous ; stem erect, a little woody 

 at the base, much branched; branches quadrangular; leaflets 2-5 pairs 

 (mostly scattered), elliptical-lanceolate or linear-oblong, somewhat glaucous, 

 rigid and very strongly veined ; petioles terminated by a smaU bristle ; sti- 

 pules lanceolate, subfalcate, minutely semisagittate at the base; peduncles 

 3-5-flowered, a little longer than the leaves ; flowers very large, purple ; seg- 

 ments of the calyx lanceolate-subulate, somewhat unequal, nearly as long as 

 the tube ; legumes . . . — Nutt. gen. 2. p. 97 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 371. L. 

 decaphyllus, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 471, not oi Jlook. Vicia stipulacea, Pursh ! 

 I. c. snppl. 2. p. 739! 



Grassy alluvial plains of the Missouri, Nuttall, Bradbury ! Dr. James! 

 June. — Stems short. Leaves crowded, especially on the lower part of the 

 stem ; the lowermost 2-4-foliolate, the upper 6-1 0-foliolate. Leaflets l-2i inch- 

 es long, variable in width, mostly obtuse at each end, mucronate, stronirly 

 longitudinally veined. Stipules very variable in size, very acute, sometimes 



