PULSE FAMILY LEGUMINOSAE 
FRENCH GRASS 
Psoralea Onobrychis Nutt. 
This perennial grows along rivers and railroads, and in moist 
thickets and open woods from Ohio to Illinois and Missouri, 
southeast to South Carolina. It blooms in June and July. 
Some species of 
Psoralea have edible 
tuberous roots, but 
not the French Grass. 
Its nearly smooth, 
branched stem grows 
3-6 feet high and 
bears numerous flow- 
er clusters both in the 
axils of leaves and 
at the ends of 
branches. 
The purplish 
flowers are butterfly 
shaped. The persis- 
tent calyx is $-tooth- 
ed, the lower tooth a 
little longer than the 
others. The standard 
is broadly oval and 
the 2 wing petals are 
oblong. The keel is curved inward between the 2 wings. The 
10 stamens are alike and g of them are united. The pistil de- 
velops into a rough and wrinkled 1-seeded pod. that does not 
open at maturity. 
The Few-flowered Psoralea, Psoralea tenuiflora Pursh, grows 
on prairies in Illinois and westward to Texas, Colorado and Mon- 
tana. It is slender but much branched and bushy and grows 2-4 
feet high. The 3 leaflets are very short stalked, oval and less than 
1 inch long. The plant is smooth except for glandular dots sprin- 
kled throughout and especially on the ovate pods. The purplish 
flowers, about one-quarter inch long, are 6-14 in loose racemes 
and bloom from June to September. Lobes of the calyx, as well 
as the scalelike, persistent bracts, are ovate and acute. ‘The single 
seed is ovoid and brown. 
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