Astragalus.'] L. LEGUMINOSJE. (J. G. Baker.) 133 



West Himalayas, temperate and alpine region, alt. 8-13,000 ft.; WEST TIBET, 

 KUNAWAR, KASHMIR, GTURWHAL, KUMAON. 



Stems woody, not more than a few inches long, beset below the tufts of leaves with 

 the copious ascending woody rachises of the old leaves with the lanceolate membranous 

 stipules still persisting. Leaves 3-4 in. long ; leaflets oblong, obtuse, glaucous, i-^ in. 

 long, more or less silky ; petioles 1-2 in., finely downy. Heads dense, many- flowered ; 

 pedicels ^-^ in., densely silky; bracts linear. Calyx | in., densely silky; teeth linear, 

 a third as long as the tube. Corolla an inch long ; wings shorter than the standard, 

 keel than the wings. Pod f-1 in. long, curved, short-stalked, firm, turgid, bilocular, 

 12-16-seeded. 



A plant from Kumaon and Gurwhal, of which we have incomplete examples ga- 

 thered by Falconer and Madden (var. pindreensis, Benth.) with the general habit and 

 copious persistent indurated petioles of this species, but with a shorter pod rounded at 

 both ends like the next, will probably prove distinct from both when fully known. 



Bunge cites from 'Boyle III. p. 199,' A. subcaulescens, which he keeps up as a 

 species, but says he has not seen. Eoyle has no such plant. 



58. A. pyrrhotrichus, Boiss. Diag. ix. 73; Fl Orient, ii. 290; heads 

 distinctly peduncled, leaflets 41-51 clothed with long silky hairs, leaf-rachis not 

 indurated nor persistent. Bunge Man. i. 39 ; ii. 54. 



HAZARA, 2-6000 ft., Stewart. PUNJAB, near Atok, Gen. Eyre, Aitchison DISTRIB. 

 Afghanistan. 



Stems short, woody, densely clothed with long soft spreading fine pale brown hairs. 

 Stipules ^~| in. long, lanceolate, silky; leaf-rachis including petiole ^-1 ft. long, 

 densely clothed with spreading hairs, much overtopping the heads ; leaflets green, 

 roundish or obovate-oblong, | | in. long, obtuse, with a minute mucro. Heads close, 6- 

 12-flowered ; peduncle 1-4 in. ; pedicels short ; bracts linear-setaceous, plumose. Calyx 

 densely silky, f | in. long ; teeth setaceous, nearly as long as the tube. Corolla half 

 -as long again as the calyx. Pod subsessile, dimidiate-oblong, densely silky, bilocular, 

 10-12-seeded. 



59. A. malacophyllus, Benth. MSS. ; heads shortly peduncled, leaflets 

 31-41 densely silky, leaf-rachises not indurated nor persistent, pod oblong 

 narrowed suddenly at both. ends. Bunge Mon. i. 36 ; ii. 61. 



West Himalayas, temperate region, alt. 8-11,000 ft. ; KASHMIR and KISTWAR. 



Stems densely pubescent, usually short, but reaching a foot long. Leaves 2-4 in. 

 long; leaflets close, oblong, obtuse, densely silky, ^- in. long ; stipules lanceolate, |-| in. 

 Heads close or rarely sublax ; peduncles an inch or less ; bracts linear-setaceous, ex- 

 ceeding the distinct pedicels. Calyx \ in., densely silky ; teeth linear, a third the 

 length of the tube. Corolla half as long again as the calyx ; wings rather shorter 

 than the standard; keel shorter still. Pod | in. long, sessile, very turgid, firm, 

 bilocular, silky, 8-10-seeded. 



60. A. anomalus, Bunge Mon. i. 35 ; ii. 62; heads distinctly peduncled, 

 leaflets 25-31 nearly glabrescent, leaf-rachises not indurated nor persistent. 



WEST TIBET, Falconer. 



Closely allied to the last, from which it mainly differs by its longer peduncles and 

 fewer leaflets. Leaves 3-4 in. long ; leaflets oblong, obtuse, f-^ in. long, the upper 

 close, the lower distant, green, with a few short silky hairs ; stipules lanceolate, | in. 

 long. Calyx | in. ; teeth setaceous, plumose, half as long as the tube. Corolla f | in. ; 

 proportion of the petals as in A. malacophyllus. Ovary linear, silky, nearly sessile ; 

 ovules about 20. Pod not seen. 



SUBGKEN. 8. 2Eg*acantlia, Bunge. Low shrubs, with basifixed hairs, 

 stipules adnate at the base to the petiole, persistent rigid leaf-rachises without 



