Rydberg: Notes on Fabaceae — I 185 



"Rydberg's reduction ... of this species to A. episcopus, 

 a plant with strictly sessile pods, is not understandable." The 

 explanation of this reduction is as follows. In the herbarium 

 of Columbia University there is a sheet labelled: "Coll. United 

 States Department of Agriculture. Astragalus Episcopus, S. 

 Watson, n. sp. Locality Utah. Collector, Capt. Bishop, 1872." 

 The specimens on the sheet are more or less broken up into 

 pieces but the habit is very similar to that of A. Coltoni, as 

 represented by our specimens collected at Castle Gate by Jones. 

 The plants are in flower, but the color of the corolla can not 

 be determined. There is also a broken immature pod, showing 

 a stipe nearly 1 cm. long. On the same sheet is a pocket con- 

 taining two pods; one of these is mature and of exactly the same 

 shape as the pods of A. Coltoni (except that the stipe is broken 

 off), while the other is very young but shows a stipe 7 mm. long. 

 On the pocket is written in what I take to be Watson's hand, 

 "Astragalus episcopus, Wats. S. Utah. Capt. Bishop, 1873. 

 pods. " These specimens in the Columbia University Herbarium 

 clearly belong to the same species as A. Coltoni. Maebride's 

 statement that the pod of A. episcopus is "sessile" does not 

 agree either with the type specimen or with Watson 's description, 

 which reads: "pod narrowly oblanceolate, compressed, \ 1 /^ 

 inches long, i l / 2 lines broad, acute at each end, very shortly 

 stipitate, reflexed." Watson's description, however, agrees 

 in every respect with the Columbia University specimens, 

 except the words "very shortly;" for the stipe is rather long. 

 As Watson also describes the flowers as being "purple or yellow- 

 ish," he might have had a mixture, and if the specimens in the 

 Columbia Herbarium were included in his conception of the 

 species, this was certainly the case. The specimen in the Gray 

 Herbarium is also fragmentary but shows a plant related to H. 

 lancearius ; its pod, however, is larger, 3 cm. long, and 5-6 mm. 

 broad, tapering at both ends and very shortly stipitate, and the 

 corolla is larger, being fully 12 mm. long. 



18. Homalobus vexilliflexus (Sheld.) Rydb. This was 

 originally described as Astragalus pauciflorus Hook.; since, how- 

 ever, there is an older A. pauciflorus Pallas., Hooker's specific 

 name is not tenable in Astragalus and hence not in Homalobus. 

 As the plant is well known no specimens need be cited. 



