NAT. ORDER, 



LeguminoscE. 



DALEA ALOPECUROIDES. STRIPED DALEA. 



Class XVI. MoNADELPHiA. Older V. Decandria. 



Gen. Char. Calyx, five-cleft. Vcxillum, short, free. Stanwm, ten. 



Lcgwme, ovate, one-seeded. Leaves., impari-pinnate. 

 Spe. Char. Stem, glabrous and erect, having from ten to fifteen 



pairs of linear-elliptic retuse leaflets ; Spikes of flowers, ovate 



or cylindrical. 



This beautiful flower is almost universally cultivated throughout 

 the United States ; more particularly as an ornament than for any 

 valuable purposes. The stem is upright, hard, woody, nearly branch- 

 less, and rises from three to six feet in height ; the calyx is five-cleft, 

 five-toothed, and sometimes beset with numerous glands ; the ici?igs 

 and carina are generally found adhering to the tube of the stamens ; 

 the vcxillum is short and free ; stamens ten, monadelphous ; legume 

 ovate, one-seeded, shorter than the calyx ; stijndcs, adhering to the 

 petioles at the base ; leaves generally having the terminal leaflet ses- 

 sile ; Jloicers disposed in pedunculate spikes, which are opposite the 

 leaves. 



The Dalea is considerably cultivated at the present time as an 

 ornament in the garden : its value, otherwise than for its beautiful 

 and elegant appearance, is comparatively limited. As a medicine, 

 we have no accounts of its ever being considered of sufllcient value 

 to warrant its use, or even a trial. Ancient writers have given no 

 account of this plant, nor do they seem to have known of its exis- 

 tence. Modern botanists, however, have discovered and figured fifty- 



Vol. iii,— 107. 



