134 Alpini. 
ble, the lower ones short and often reniform. Stems 1-2 ft. high, 
slender, tufted, ascending to decumbent, open and airy plants with 
internodes 4-10 cm. long. Pubescence of whole plant almost none | 
except the nigrescent calyx and pods, Young forms of this closely 
resemble A. andinus, but the flowers of that species are capitate, 
the stipules broader and greener, the habit more decumbent and 
the pods as they ripen differ greatly. Alpine and subalpine from 
the mountains of New England to Labrador. Intergrades toward the 
var. occidentalis grow in Alberta and are A, Macounii Rydberg. "This 
often passes for A. andinus in New England. 
- Astragalus Labradoricus var. Robbinsii (Oakes in Gray’s Man. 
Ed. 2 98 (1856), as species). Pods much laterally flattened, about 
1-1.5 em. long and half as high, half-oblong-oval, with the dorsal suture 
straight and the ventral much arched, rather abruptly narrowed at 
both ends; and shortly acute, opening first at tip, but little inflated 
though the cavity is much wider than the seeds, septum a little in- 
truded. Flowers capitate to shortracemose, 7-10 mm. long, ascend- 
ing, white. Calyx cleft deeper above and with broad sinus; teeth one- 
half to one mm, long. Bracts small, lanceolate, those on the lower 
flowers larger. Leaflets 7-12 mm. long, oval to oblong, 3-5 pairs, long- 
petiolulate. Stipules green, rather large. Stems variably erect. 
Pubescence appressed and nigrescent, not dense. Alpine in the moun- 
tains of New England. 
Astragalus Labradoricus var. occidentalis (Watson Bot. King 70 
(1871) as Robbisii var.) A. occidentalis (Watson) Jones. Atelophrag- 
ma Rydberg. Body of pod 10-15 mm. long, rarely 2.5 cm. long, shortly 
acute at both ends, half-oval to half-elliptical, about 7 mm. high in the 
Short pods and 3 mm. wide and high in the long pods, mostly half- 
oval-ovate nearly as wide as high, cross section rather broadly 
ovate, pod inflated, on a twisted pedicel so that the dorsal suture is 
mostly uppermost, often a little sulcate dorsally, in long racemes nigres- 
cent, with dorsal suture intruded often 1 mm. high. Stipe normally 
about half as long as calyx but very variable from very short to à 
little longer than calyx, when very short it approaches A. elegans. 
Flowers rather many, ascending to horizontal, spicate, dirty-white but 
often tinged with purple, purplish below, about 7 mm. long, rather 
narrow. Banner oblong-oval abruptly arched to 60 to 90 degrees 1 
mm. beyond calyx tips, 7 mm. long, 1-2 mm. longer than wings, with 
sides reflexed about 1 mm. wide; groove very broadly V-shaped below 
and disappearing above. Wings arched to 30 degrees, narrower than 
keel and about 1 mm. longer, obovate, rounded, notched below the 
tin, with a little groove along the middle, concave to keel and ob- 
lique, right hand one pressed close to keel. Keel with tip nearly erect 
and rounded, 2 mm. high, about 3 mm. longer than calyx, lead- 
purple. Calyx tube about 2 mm. long, almost turbinate, truncate, very 
oblique above, cleft deeper above with broad sinus, teeth deltoid at 
base, barely half as long as tube, with pedicel about equally inserted. 
Bracts green, lanceolate to subulate, not over 2 mm. long. Peduncles 
^as often axillary as terminal with the rachis often a foot long. Leaves 
not condensed, not over 1 dm. long. Leaflets oval to oblong, rarely 
12 mm. long (northern forms often have leaflets 3 cm. long), smooth 
or nearly so, 6-7 pairs, green, often paler below. Stipules large, 
rarely a little connate at very base. Stems widely spreading over 
other plants or prostrate, 1-2 ft. long. Crowns rather many from a 
woody and erect root, not from underground and slender rootstocks 
as in andinus. This differs from the var. Robbinsii in the less lunate 
. pods, about equally acute at both ends but very shortly stipitate, and 
in the more numerous leaflets. But it is exceedingly variable in all 
. characters. It often grows with A. andinus and may hybridize with 
sit ae ee MeL NUN MUN Neriie te henee 
