Prairie Legumes 377 



Along the summits of bluffs and on prairie knolls Aragallus Lam- 

 T)ertH (Pursh) Greene is a fairly common plant, and always an object 

 of interest. It is one of the Loco vvceds and is common in bluffy pas- 

 tures, but no instance of cattle poisoning from eating it has come to 

 the writer's knowledge. The New Gray's Manual uses the name 

 Oxytropis for the genus, while Dr. Britton used the name Spiesia in 

 the Illustrated Flora and the name Aragallus in the Manual. 



Wild Licorice, Glycyrrhiza lepidota Pursh, was fairly common on 

 rich moist prairies, growing sometimes where the soil was partly alka- 

 line. The root of the wild species seems not to be so sweet as the 

 licorice of commerce. 



The boys who broke the prairies of western Minnesota forty years 

 ago have vivid recollections of the Devil's Shoe Strings, the plant with 

 so tough a root that it would double around the sharpest plowshare 

 and clog the breaking plow. This plant is Aviorpha canescens Pursh, 

 and it was very common. Its whitened foliage did much to give the 

 prairies their characteristic gray tint. Amorpha nana Nutt., called 

 Amorpha microphilla Pursh in the New Gray's Manual, was less com- 

 mon. Its foliage was green and glabrous and its spikes of bright 

 purple flowers were very showy. Amorpha fruticosa L. was common 

 on the banks of streams, but it could hardly be called a prairie plant. 



Parosela dalea (L) Brit, or Dalea alopecuroides Willd. as it is 

 called in the New Gray, was found occasionally, but it was a rare 

 plant. 



Among the prairie clovers Petalostemon candidus Michx was com- 

 mon, and it is probable that Petalostemon oligophyllus (Torr.) Rydb. 

 was common too, but the two species have so much in common as to 

 be difficult to distinguish. Petalostemon purpureus (Vent.) Rydb, was 

 common, too, while Petalostemon villosus Nutt., so common in the east- 

 ern part of the state, was either absent or very rare. 



The Perennial Pea, Lathyrus venosus Muhl., was quite common 

 in especially rich ground, near gopher mounds. Lathyrus palustris L. 

 was common, too, especially in its variety, Lathyrus palustris linearir 

 foliiis Ser. 



One Lespideza, L. capitata Michx., may be recorded as a prairie 

 plant,* but it was nowhere very common. It was usually found on dry 

 banks and bluffs. 



Lotus americanus (Nutt.) Bisch., or as it is called in the New 

 Gray's Manual Hosackia americana (Nutt.) Piper, appears never to 

 have been very common in this region but has been collected by the 

 writer at Big Stone lake ana Montevideo, and by Sheldon at Lake 

 Hendricks. 



These western prairies can scarcely claim more than one Desmo- 

 dium, D. canadensis (L) DC, and this was nowhere very common, and 

 did not grow far from bluffs and river valleys. 



Strophostyles pauciflora (Benth.) Hook, has been collected by the 

 writer as far west as Big Stone lake, but it can hardly be called a 

 prairie species. 



Yicia americana Muhl. was common throughout the prairie region. 



