TO 
BOTANY. 
Astragalus aboriginum, Rich. Graxjs Rev., I. c, 203. Perennial, 
hoary pubescent or sub villous ; stems numerous, rigid, ascending, J-l°high; 
stipules triangular, for the most part free ; leaflets 3-6 pairs, linear or oblong- 
lanceolate, acute ; peduncles exceeding the leaves ; flowers small (3-5" long,) 
in a compact raceme, white or tinged with violet ; calyx-teeth fihform-subu- 
late, a little shorter than the tube ; legume long-stipitate, reflexed, somewhat 
membranous, glabrous, laterally subcompressed, (cross-section oval,) straight 
dorsally, the ventral suture arcuate, 1-celled with a very narrow rudimentary 
septum on the dorsal side, 10-15-ovuled. — From Lake Winnipeg to Bear 
Lake and Behring Strait, and in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. East 
Humboldt Mountains, Nevada ; 11,000 feet altitude ; August. (267.) 
Astragalus Robbinsii, Gray. Var. (!) occidentalis. A puzzling form, 
intermediate between A. Robbinsii and oroboides, but nearer the former. 
The legume (not yet mature) is much compressed, straight on the dorsal side 
and arcuate ventrally, tapering at base to a very short stipe, with no indica- 
tion of a dorsal sulcus, but with a narrow rudimentary dorsal septum, pubes- 
cent with more or less nigrescent hairs. The flowers are rather larger than 
in Robbinsii, the wing usually emarginate, but less deeply so. East Hum- 
boldt Mountains, Nevada; 10,000 feet altitude; August. Apparently the 
same plant, but with less* mature legume, was collected by Bourgeau 
(Phaca 2) in the Rocky Mountains. (268.) 
Astragalus iodanthus. Perennial, canescent with an appressed hairy 
pubescence, or usually nearly glabrous with scattered hairs upon the petioles 
and margins of the leaves ; stems decumbent, 6—10' long ; stipules ovate- 
lanceolate, free or somewhat adnate to the petiole ; leaflets 6-10 pairs, 
2-5" long, obovate or orbicular, obtuse ; peduncles equaling the leaves ; 
spikes short, dense ; flowers on short pedicels, deep violet-purple or ochro- 
leucous tinged with purple, the wings and banner (6-8" long) exceeding the 
obtuse keel, the somewhat nigrescent campanulate calyx-tube twice longer 
than the subulate teeth ; legume IJ' long, 3" broad, linear-oblong, acuminate, 
strongly arcuate or hamate, sessile, nearly glabrous with a very sparse pubes- 
cence, mottled, chartaceous, irregularly folded but usually with a deep dorsal 
sulcus approximating the suture to tlie prominent ventral one, dorsal septum 
none, many-seeded. — Collected by Dr. Bloomer and Dr. Torrey near Virginia 
City, and not rare on the foot-hills of Western Nevada from the Virginia to the 
