PULSE FAMILY LEGUMINOSAE 
GOAT’S RUE. CATGUT 
Tephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers. 
[ The Goat’s Rue is common in dry sandy soil from Maine 
to Minnesota and south to Florida and northern Mexico. It is a 
somewhat branched herb that grows 1-2 feet high and is covered 
with silky whitish 
hairs. Its slender 
roots are very tough, 
because of which it 
is sometimes called 
Devil’s-shoestrings 
and Catgut. Wild 
Sweet Pea isa fourth 
name in some local- 
ities. The stems are 
quite leafy and the 
leaflets on each leaf 
are linear-oblong 
and 17-29. 
The yellowish 
white flowers, 
marked with purple, 
bloom during June 
and July. The calyx 
is about equally 
s-cleft. The stand- 
ard is nearly round, 
with the sides turned 
| back, and is silky 
on the outside. The 2 wing petals are oblong and the keel is 
somewhat curved. The filaments of 9 of the Io stamens are 
united nearly to,the top, but the tenth is united to the others 
only at the base. The pistil matures into a flat, several-seeded 
pod that is densely hairy. 
Like all members of the Pulse family the Goat’s Rue is 
pollinated by insects. It is the only one of 120 species of this 
genus to be found in Illinois. 
Oh, garden of grasses deep and wild, 
So dear to the vagrant and the child 
And the singer of an hour. 
Wild Gardens—ADA FostrR MURRAY 
168 
