LI 
south vary somewhat in the tendency to turn blue. A. coccineus I 
97 
even A. inflexus in beauty and size and with great flowers and pods, 
and here the Argophylli stop short off. These two species seem wholly 
out of place and yet even extend to the Charleston mountains. One 
would expect here a jump to some other remarkable. allied group . 
but there is none in the whole region. The Malaci are the nearest, * 
and seem like hybrids between this group and the Hamosi. When: we 
follow the Argophylli eastward and then southward we find them 
varying into the pygmeeus-amphioxys group, more adapted io the 
hotter climates, and these seem to have jumped into the Mollissimi at 
the south and the Sarcocarpi at the north and east. The Argophylli 
do not extend much into the regions of permanent snow cover, but 
belong to that trying region of the lower Middle Temperate and 
Lower Temperate where the snow comes and goes, and thaws alter- 
nate with freezes so that all stems persisting over winter must be 
closely protected by matting, by dead leaves and petioles and by 
dense stipules and wool or hair and short internodes. 
The Sarcocarpi have passed up into the region of, permanent 
winter snow cover for the most part at the north and do not show this 
adaptation, but the southern species do. 
The Mollissimi are protected more against heat by their shaggy 
covering, but in the far south A. Humboldtii and others have only ihe 
close silvery pubescence, and even that is often sparse. : 
The effects of heat are best shown in the Tropical life zone where 
plants have been compelled to adopt the most effective system, better 
than phyllodia, the destruction of the perennial root. This requires 
no winter protection, or devices against continued droughts but 
could obtain only where the resting period is one of drought and 
not cold, otherwise the seeds would rot. The annual habit results in 
slender stems, small leaves, flowers and pods, the latter with thin 
walls. For this reason we have the Didymocarpi and Leptocarpi the 
prevailing species, along with a smattering of Inflati, and other 
groups. In the few perennials which persist in favorable places there 
is the same leaf, flower and stem reduction and absence of phyllodia, 
tho'eh here and there a few like pictus and some Homalobi persist. 
The presence of a poison, in most of the species, affecting the 
motor nerves makes the genus of no economic, importance as very 
few are eaten at all by animals, while some species destroy many 
horses and sheep. A. Coltoni is poisonous to hogs in the La Sal 
region of Utah. A. mollissimus is the loco Astragalus of the Plains. 
A. Canadensis has poisoned sheep in Montana. Various forms of A. 
lentiginosus have a bad reputation in southern Utah. No Astragali 
are voluntarily eaten by animals, but in the spring, when animals 
are ravenous for the first green things that come out of the ground 
they will bite at anything and it is at such times that they are poi- 
soned. Once poisoned they get a craving for them and become 
“locoed” (crazy). when the range is all eaten off but these plants 
sheep will eat them rather than starve and it is in this way that they 
get poisoned. 
COLOR OF THE FLOWERS AS REGARDS ALKALINITY : 
Practically all the pink or pink-purple flowers on drying, become — 
bluish, exceptions to this are A. coccineus and sometimes funereus. © 
The reason for this is that the papers in which the plants are dried | 
contain alkali and this neutralizes the acid of the red tints and turns © 
it alkaline which then becomes blue. Whenever this is the case the. 
‘natural color can be restored by moisten'rg the flower by a dilute 
id. As has alrerdy been said the soil of the entire west is alka 
