128 Sparsiflori, 
SPARSIFLORI. 5. 
Pods chartaceous, reticulated, lunate, suleate dorsally 
with ventral suture concave or rarely straight, tip straight or 
ascending nearly in line with the ventral suture, but which is 
humped a little at the end, acute at both ends or short-stipitate, 
not splitting the calyx, cross section normally triquetrous, pod 
laterally flattened, a little inflated, with tip flat and triangular- 
acute, length normally 1-3 em. but sparsiflorus is shorter. 
Flowers light-colored, mostly capitate, rarely short-racemose, 
reflexed or widely spreading, 5-10 mm. long, with campanulate 
ealyx tube 1-3 mm. long. Banner oval, arched abruptly at 
(below only in A. villosus) or beyond calyx tips to 45 to 90 
degrees, with sides reflexed below, notched, 3-6 mm. long, 
uearly twice as long as keel. Wings narrowly oblong, obtuse, 
about 1-2 mm. wide, narrower than keel and arched somewhat. 
Keel straight below, abruptly arched at tip to ereet and tip tri- 
angular and 2-3 mm. high and rounded to acutish and dark 
or colored. Bracts small, or narrow. Pedicels slender. Pedun- 
cles longer than the leaves except in typical sparsiflorus when 
fully mature, axillary nearly throughout, slender. Middle. 
leaves 5-12 em. long, about three times the internodes, the low- 
est leaves very much reduced. Petioles short above, leaf rachis 
long and filiform. Leaflets rather long-petiolulate, flat, 
rather distant, narrowly-elliptical to obcordate, rounded to re- 
tuse, not over 1 em. long, 4-12 pairs. Stipules 2-4 mm. long 
except in villosus, greenish. Stems filiform or nearly so and 
prostrate or straggling, 2-7 dm. long, forming mostly open 
mats from a single crown terminating an erect and slender 
root. Plants perennial. Pubescence attached by the base and 
often loose. 
KEY 
A. prostrate plants. Pods reticulated, chartaceous, ascending, wider 
_ above, with cross-section triangular-cordate and with dorsal suture 
a mere line within, and the ventral suture not intruded but merely 
a sharp and raised line. Calyx teeth as long as the tube. Leaflets 
oval to obcordate. Flowers reflexed in oblong spikes. Leaves 
nearly sessile. 
Pubescence of soft, long, spreading hairs. 81 villosus. 
Pubescence none except on calyx. 82 obcordatus. 
2A. Plants weak and decumbent, Calyx teeth short. Flowers rather 
few. Leaflets mostly narrow. Leaves all petioled. Pods charta- 
ceous, mottied, with dorsal suture little intruded or not at all, 
wider above, cross section ovate to triangular-cordate, Flowers 
| very few, hardly 5 mm. long, much arched, and rather scattered, 
|. 9n peduncles shorter than the leaves. ; 
