SUSPECTED SPECIES. 127 



FALSE LUPINE. 



[Thermojysis spp.) 



Erect perennial herbs 1 to 3 feet high, with trifoliate leaves and 

 bright yellow flowers in terminal racemes (PL XXV). The two spe- 

 cies are distinguished by the fact that in the first the pods are curved 

 and pendulous, while in the second they are straight and erect, and by 

 the further fact that the first species, which is the taller plant, is more 

 abundant in dry places, while the second seems to prefer rich, moist 

 meadows or the banks of streams. The difference in habitat, how- 

 ever, is not without its exception. The yellow pea (as it is commonly 

 known in Montana) or prairie false lupine {Thermopsis rhombifolia 

 (Nutt.) Richards) occurs along the Yellows^tone Valley from the east- 

 ern border of Montana to Livingston, along the Missouri from its 

 head waters to Fort Benton, and in Flathead, Missoula, Ravalli, Lewis 

 and Clarke, Beaverhead, Gallatin, and Madison counties. The general 

 distribution of these plants is from Colorado to New Mexico, north to 

 Washington, and eastward to Nebraska and Dakota. 



The yellow pea has a general distribution throughout Montana. It 

 is especially abundant east of the Rocky Mountains, occurring from 

 the lowest altitude up to 6,500 feet. In many places it covers the 

 ground so completely over large areas as to form conspicuous patches 

 of bright yellow at the time when the plant is in bloom. Mention has 

 already been made of the fact that sheep were observed feeding upon 

 the leaves of this plant without suffering an}^ serious consequences. It 

 was observed that a small number of pods were formed on this plant 

 during the season of 1900. In some localities it was difiicult to find a 

 single pod on the plant. Considerable variation in the number of pods 

 which mature is frequently observed in the case of a number of native 

 species of the pea family. 



On May 9 a serious case of poisoning occurred on a cattle ranch 

 near Wibaux. About 150 cattle were affected with symptoms of 

 poisoning, and of this number 100 died. A telegram was received 

 from the owner of the cattle by Dr. M. E. Knowles, who requested 

 one of us to visit the locality with him. Upon arriving at the place it 

 was found that the animals had been dead for two days, and post- 

 mortem examinations were, under the circumstances, practically value- 

 less. One such examination was made with such unsatisf actoiy results 

 ■that no further work of this sort was attempted. No definite statement 

 icould be obtained concerning the symptoms manifested by the animals 

 before death. In this case, as in many others, malicious poisoning had 

 been suspected, and it was suggested that the water had been poisoned. 

 Only one dead animal was found near the water, and the others lay 

 scattered about the plains at some distance from one another. The 

 stomach of the one animal upon which a post-mortem examination wjas 



