LEGUMINOSAE PULSE FAMILY 
WHITE PRAIRIE CLOVER 
Petalostemum candidum Michx. 
White Prairie Clover occurs on dry plains from Indiana 
to Minnesota and Manitoba, south to Tennessee, Louisiana and 
Texas, and west to Colorado. Inasmuch as most of our Illinois 
prairies have been destroyed, the best 
place to look for this plant is along a iy 
railroad, where it appears in great patches Oe 
in June and July. aan 
This is a very common perennial whose Mie 
smooth, sparingly branched. or entirely Sindy 
simple stem grows 1-2 feet high. The 5-9 Rees 
leaflets are lanceolate or linear-oblong. SRE 
PTA RS 
The white flowers are crowded in a MORN 
cylindrical spike. Those at the base of the 
spike open first and the blooming progresses 
upward. The bracts, a little longer than 
the nearly smooth calyx, are awned. The 
fifth petal is heart shaped. The fruit is 
a 1 or 2-seeded pod within the persistent 
calyx. 
The Leafy Prairie 
Clover, Petalostemum folio- 
sum Gray, is a_ species 
which seems to be very 
limited in its distribution 
here. It has been found I) 
along the Kankakee river, 
along the Illinois river at | 
Romeo, near Joliet, and 
perhaps a few other places, V 
but it is very local. It has \ 
purple flowers but is easily 
distinguished from the Pur- ¢ 
ple Prairie Clover by the 
numerous leaflets, 13-31, 
close together. They are about one-half inch long and oval. The 
petal inserted at the base of the calyx is nearly round. 
Did your gossips gold and blue, Like the Genie, once again 
Sky and Sunshine, choose for you, Get you back into the grain? 
Ere your triple forms were seen, Little masters, may I stand 
Suited liveries of green? In your presence hat in hand, 
Can ye—if ye dwelt indeed Waiting till you solve for me 
Captives of a prison seed— This your threefold mystery? 
JOHN BANISTER TABB 
167 
