22 SPRING FLORA OF MANHATTA:N. 



MELILOTUS, Juss. 



As in Medkago but legume not coiled. Flowers in spikes. Tall 

 herbs. 



M. alba. Lam. Flowers white. Roadsides, etc., frequent. 



M. officinalis, (L.) Lam. Flowers yellow. Waste places, rare. 

 TRIFOLIUM, L. 



Leaves palmately 3-foliate. Flowers in head-like clusters. Low- 

 herbs. 



T. medium, L. Flowers purple, sessile in the head Leaflets with- 

 out a dark spot. Fields, common. ( T. pi-atense, L , is distinguished by 

 having a dark spot on the leaves.) 



T. repens, L. Flowers white (turning pink with age), pedicelled in 

 the head. Leaflets notched at apex. Meadows, common. 



PSORALEA, L. 



Perennial herbs with glaadular dotted, 3-5-foliate leaves and purplish 

 flowers. 



P. esculenta, Pursh. Stem 1-3 dm high, rough, haiiy. Leaves 

 D-foliate. Raceme dense. Prairie, not common. 



P. tenuiflora, Pursh. Stem taller and much branched, nearly smooth. 

 Raceme loose. Leaves 3-5 foliate. Prairie, common 



AMORPHA, L. 



Stamens mouadelphous only at base. Leaves odd-pinnate. Flowers 

 violet, in spikes. Corolla of one petal. 



A. fruticosa, L. Nearly smooth. Leaflets 8-12 pairs Wet places, 

 frequent. 



ASTRAGALUS, L. 



Stamens diadelphous. Low perennial herbs witli racemed flowers. 

 Legume sometimes 2-celled by a false partition. 



A. cai-yocarpus, Kev. Stems leafly and spreading. Leaflets narrowly 

 elliptical (1-H cm. long). Flowers about 2 cm. long, purplish, in a short 

 loose raceme. Legume turgid, 2-celled, thick and fleshy, becoming 

 papery at maturity. I'rairie, common. 



A. lotiftonis. Hook. Stems short and tufted. Leaflets oblong, 

 broader and more distant than in the foregoing. Flowers about 1 cm. 

 long, yellowish, in a head-like raceme. Legume dry, not completely 

 2-celled. Prairie, frequent. 



A. Missouriensis, Nutt. Resembling the foregoing but leaflets 

 smaller and flowers blue or purple. Rocky bluffs, frequent. 



VICIA, L. 



V. sparsifolia, Nutt. Leaflets 2-5 pairs, linear or oblong. Raceme 

 2-4 flowered, flowers naiTOW, about 2 cm. long, narrow. Low ground, 



not common. 



LATHYRUS, L. 

 L. omatus, Nutt. Flowers about 3 cm. long, the standard broad and 

 conspicuous, purple. Prairie, frequent. 



SUBORDER C^ESALPINIOIDE^. 

 Flowers not papilionaceous, or if somewhat so, the upper petal 

 enclosed by the others in the bud. Stamens usually distinct. 



