122 



THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



limited range. Such are milk or Chinese vetch (Astragalus 

 sinicusL,.), beggar weed (Desmodium tortuosum D.C.), sainfoin 

 (Onobrychis sativa Lam.), flat pea (Lathyrus sylvestris L.), 

 furze (IJlex europaeus L.), bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus cor- 

 niculatus L.). 



129. Common Characters. The leguminous plants have, with 

 few exceptions, the following characters : The leaves are alternate 



TWO POSTERIOR CALYXlEETi I 



I if 



STANDARD 



WING 



KEEL 



BRACT... 



STAMENS 



___PISTIL 



ANTERIOR TOC~H 



r or CALYX 



Diagram of a leguminous flower (after 

 Eichler). Courtesy of David Nutt, London 



and spirally arranged, not 

 two-rowed, as in grasses. The 

 leaf consists of a long stalk 

 or petiole and three or more 

 leaflets. At the base of the 

 petiole is a pair of lateral 

 outgrowths, or the stipules. 

 Each flower is composed of 

 calyx, corolla, stamens, and 

 pistil. The parts are in fives, 

 unequal in size, and bilater- 

 ally symmetrical. The sepals 



are united; the petals are free, except in clover. The 

 largest petal, the standard, lies between the two superior 

 teeth of the calyx and terminates in a broad portion, 

 the limb, which is bent upward and notched at its apex. 

 The petals on either side are called the wings, while the two 

 petals below, united more or less by their lower margins, are 

 known as the keel. In the bud, the folded standard overlaps 

 the wings, while the wings overlap the keel. There are ten 

 stamens. Through a considerable portion of their length nine 

 of these stamens unite by their filaments to form a tube sur- 

 rounding the single pistil. The tenth and superior stamen fills 

 up a slit in the tube. The stigma and anthers lie in the apex 

 of the keel. The ovulary, which is one-celled, develops into 

 a pod containing one or more seeds attached along the upper 

 margin that is, toward the standard. The style and stigma 



