LEGUMINOSAE. 149 



Medicago lupulina L. Black Medic. Yellow Trefoil. Low pubescent 

 decumbent branched annual; leaflets cuneate-obovate, "toothed at the apex; 

 flowers yellow, in short spikes; pods curved, black, slightly hirsute, 1 -seeded. 

 Becoming a weed in the Palouse hills. 



Medicago sativa L. Alfalfa. Erect smooth much branched perennial; 

 leaflets obovate-oblong, toothed, especially near the apex; flowers violet or 

 blue, in spike-like racemes; pods coiled. Roadsides; escaped from cultivation. 



210. MELILOTUS. 



Annual or biennial herbs; leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; leaflets 

 denticulate; flowers in racemes; calyx campanulate, with short 

 equal teeth; corolla deciduous, free from the stamen-tube; 

 stamens diadelphous; anthers all alike; ovary sessile or stipitate, 

 few-ovuled; pod coriaceous, 1-2 -seeded. 



Melilotus alba Desr. Sweet Clover. Biennial, stout, ere*ct, branching, 

 1-2 m. high, finely puberulent or nearly glabrous; leaves slender-petioled ; 

 leaflets oblong or obovate, denticulate, mostly truncate at apex, 1-2 cm. long; 

 stipules subulate; racemes slender, 10-20 cm. long; flowers white, sweet- 

 scented, 4-5 mm. long, reflexed on short pedicels; calyx-teeth subulate, as 

 long as the tube; pod ovoid, 2-3 mm. long. Sparingly introduced. 



211. GLYCYRRHIZA. 



Perennial glandular-dotted herbs with long thick sweet roots; 

 leaves odd-pinnate, with minute deciduous stipules; flowers in 

 axillary spikes; calyx with the two upper lobes shorter or partly 

 united; stamens usually diadelphous; anther-sacs confluent at 

 the apex, the alternate ones smaller ; pod prickly, ovate or oblong- 

 linear, compressed, often curved, few seeded. 



Glycyrrhiza lepidota Nutt. Wild Licorice. Erect, stout, 50-100 cm. 

 high, glandular-puberulent throughout; leaves 10-20 cm. long; leaflets 6-8 

 pairs, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, mucronate, 3-5 cm. long, glandular- 

 dotted; peduncles shorter than the leaves; spikes dense, 3-6 cm. long; flowers 

 greenish-yellow, about 1 cm. long; calyx campanulate, 6^-8 mm. long, the acute 

 teeth about as long as the tube; pods 1.5 cm. long, thickly armed with long 

 hooked prickles. In sandy or gravelly soil in the warmer valleys. 



212. VICIA. VETCH. 



Climbing or trailing herbaceous vines; leaves pinnate, tendril- 

 bearing, with half-sagittate or entire stipules; flowers solitary or 

 in loose peduncled axillary racemes; calyx 5-cleft or toothed, un- 

 equal, the two upper teeth often shorter or the lowest longer; 

 wings adherent to the short keel; stamens diadelphous or nearly 

 so; style filiform, hairy near the tip only; ovary 2-many-ovuled ; 

 pod flat, 2-valved, 2-several-seeded. 



Vicia americana Muhl. Perennial, stout or slender, 30-100 cm. high, 

 nearly glabrous; leaflets 4-8 pairs, usually elliptic or ovate, obtuse or truncate, 

 mucronulate, entire or toothed above, glabrous above, minutely puberulent 



