146 LEGUMINOSAE 



vial soil along streams and in such situations grows from south- 

 ern Pennsylvania northwestward to Saskatchewan and south 

 to Florida and northern Mexico. In Illinois, it is exceedingly 

 rare, although widely distributed. There are records of it from 

 Winnebago County in the extreme north, Calhoun County in 

 the west, and Pope County in the southeast. 



AMORPHA CANESCENS Nuttall 



Leadplant 



The Leadplant, fig. 34, is a densely white-canescent, erect 

 shrub usually 2 to 3 feet high, without side branches. The 

 leaves, which are 2 to 5 inches long, stand on very short petioles 

 and consist of 21 to 49 nearly sessile leaflets, which are crowded 

 on the rachis in opposite or nearly opposite pairs. The leaflet 

 is 14 to about Y2 i^^ch in length, oval, lanceolate, or oblong, 

 rounded or truncate at the base, and obtuse or acute and mu- 

 cronate at the apex. The margin is entire. The surface is 

 appressed-pubescent above and woolly-pubescent beneath. The 

 inflorescence consists of a terminal cluster of many-flowered 

 spikes. The flowers appear in June or July and are small and 

 purplish blue. The fruit is a 1-seeded, densely hairy pod about 

 14 inch long. 



Distribution. — The Leadplant prefers sandy situations on 

 knolls and ridges and dry places in prairies, especially when 

 they are located in the open. In such situations it ranges from 

 northern Indiana to Manitoba and south to Louisiana and New 

 Mexico. In Illinois, it is widely distributed and abundant 

 throughout the northern half of the state but distinctly local- 

 ized, because of its definite habitat limitation. 



WISTERIA Nuttall 



The Wisterias 



The wisterias are long, climbing vines that bear alternate, 

 odd-pinnately compound leaves, which are subtended by stipules 

 and bear alternate leaflets. The flowers are showy, colored, 

 and borne in large terminal racemes. The calyx is somewhat 

 2-lipped, the upper lobe shorter than the 3 lower ones, and the 

 standard of the corolla is large, reflexed, and clawed, while 

 the wings are oblong and eared at the base. The keel is curved 



