W186 



MOUNTAIN GOLDENPEA 



Thermop'sis monta'na 



Flowers large, yellow, pea-like, 

 bracted, in rather dense, spikelike, 

 end clusters (racemes) 



Petals 5, dissimilar, more or less 

 united below; upper petal (banner) 

 broad, spreading; side petals (wings) 

 2, large, broadly oval; lowest (2) 

 petals (keel) united, boatlike, as long 

 as wings or longer 



Outer united flower parts (calyx) 

 tubular below, with 5 nearly equal 

 teeth, somewhat hairy 



Seed pod (legume) 1} to 4 in. long, 

 dark-colored, usually straight and erect, 

 flat, narrow, densely hairy, many- 



Leaves Alternate, palmately 3-divid- 

 ed, stalked, ascending 



Leaflets 3, entire, oblong-lance- 

 shaped to reverse-lance-shaped, from 

 1 to nearly 3 in. long, usually hairless 

 above and hairy beneath 



Leaflike bracts (stipules) large, longer 

 than leafstalk, oblong-lance-shapcd, 

 more than twice as long as broad 



Stems clustered, erect, stout, about 

 12 to 40 in. high, often branched 

 above, somewhat angled, hairless or 

 sparingly hairy, sometimes covered 

 with a bluish, waxen bloom 



Root perennial, often woody and with 

 a much-branched root crown 



Mountain goldenpea, variously known as buffalo pea, devil's shoestring, Mon- 

 tana-pea, prairie-bean, turkeypea, wild yellow pea, yellow-flowered bitterweed, 

 etc., is a perennial herb with golden-yellow, pealike flowers and belongs to the 

 legume family (Leguminosae). Both the specific and common names refer to 

 the habitat of this plant, montana being a Latin adjective which means mon- 



