LEGUMXNOSiE. 



73 



■1. BAPTISIA. Fm^— Baptisia. 



(From the Greek Ba7rT(D, to dye ; in allusion to the coloring properties of some 

 of the species.) 



Calyx half 4— 5-cleft, bilabiate. Petals 5, nearly equal. 

 Standard with the sides reflexed. Wings oblong. Keel slightly 

 incurved. Stamens deciduous. Legume ventricose, pedicelled, 

 many-seeded, 



1. B. tinctoria Brown : very smooth, much branched ; leaves ternate, 

 petioled, upper ones subsessile ; leafets cuneate-obovate, rounded and often 

 emarginate at the summit ; stipules minute, subulate, deciduous ; racemes 

 terminal, few-flowered; legume on a long stipe. Sophora tinctoria Linn. 

 Podahjria tinctoria WilLd. 



Sandy woods. Can. to Flor. June~Aug. %.—Stem 2—3 feet high, very 

 bushy. Flowers yellow. Whole plant turns bluish-black in drying. It is said 

 to yield a considerable quantity of inferior indigo. Wild Indigo. 



2. B. australis Broion r smooth ; leaves ternate, on short petioles, the 

 upper ones nearly sessile ; leafets oblong-wedgeform; obtuse ; stipules linear- 

 lanceolate, longer than the petioles ; racemes elongated, erect ; legumes 

 oval-oblong, the stipe about as long as the calyx. B. cccrulea Nutt. So ■ 

 phara australis Linn. 



Banks of streams. Near Canandaigua, N. Y. Easton, Penn. to Geor. W. to 

 Miss. July. %.—Stem 2—3 feet high. Flowers an inch long, bright indigo 

 blue. Blue-Jlowered Baptisia. 



3. B, alba Brown: leaves ternate, petioled, and with the branches 

 smooth ; leafets elliptic-oblong, obtuse ; stipules deciduous, subulate, shorter 

 than the petioles ; racemes terminal ; ovaries smooth. SopJwra alba Walt. 



Sandy fields. On Lake Erie, Goldie. S. to Flor. W. to Miss.—- Sfem 1—2 

 feet high, branching towards the top. Flowers white. 



White-flowered Baptisia. 



2. CROTALARIA. Linn.— RaXtlehox. 

 (From the Greek KporaXov, a rattle ; the seeds becoming loose in the ripe pod.) 



Calyx 5-lobed, subbilabiate ; upper lip -2-, lower one 3-cleft. 

 Standard large, cordate. Keel falcate, acuminate. Filaments 

 all united, with the sheath often divided above. Legume tur- 

 gid, inflated, with ventricose valves, often many-seeded, pedi- 

 celled. 



C. sagittalis Linn.: hairy, erect, branched; leaves simple, oblong- 

 lanceolate ; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, decurrent ; racemes opposite the 

 leaves, about 3-flowered ; corolla smaller than the calyx. C. parvifiora 

 Willd. 



Sandy soils. N. Y. to Flor. W. to Ark July, Aug. (^.—Stem 4—10 inches 

 high, with spreading branches. Leaves hairy on both sides, and varying from 

 oblong to linear-lanceolate. Flowers yellow. Legume inflated, blackish when 

 ripe. I am satisfied that C. parvlflora is not specifically distinct. 



Arrow-leaved Rattlwox. 



