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OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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143 



13. Astragalus Cicer : Bladdered Milk Vetch. Caulescent, 

 prostrate : legumes subglobular, inflated, mucronate, hairy ; 

 root thick, sweet ; corollas pale yellow. It flowers in July, 

 and the seeds ripen in autumn. This species is recommended 

 to be cultivated as the food" for cattle. It is a native of 

 Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. 



14. Astragalus Microphyllus : Small Round Podded Milk 

 Vetch. Caulescent, erect, expanding : leaflets oval ; calices 

 rather tumid ; legumes roundish ; corollas yellow, twice as 

 Jong as the calix. Native of Siberia and Germany, flower- 

 ing in June and July. 



15. Astragalus Glycyphyllus ; Wild Liquorice, or Liquorice 

 Vetch. Caulescent, prostrate : legumes subtriquetrous, 

 bowed ; leaves oval, longer than the peduncle ; corolla 

 greenish yellow. It spreads much at the root in gardens. 

 The leaves are sweet with a mixture of bitterness, and do 

 not seem to be agreeable to cattle, at least the plant in its 

 wild state is left untouched ; otherwise this being the largest 

 of the European species, it might have been desirable to 

 cultivate it. Native of most parts of Europe, in woods, 

 hedges, and pastures, especially in a calcareous soil. Its 

 flowers appear in June, its seeds in September. 



16. Astragalus Hamosus ; Dwarf Yellow-flowered Milk 

 fetch. Caulescent, procumbent : legumes subulate, re- 

 curved, smooth ; leaflets obcordate, villose underneath ; 

 root annual ; flowers of a pale yellow colour. Native of 

 Messina and Montpellier. 



17. Astragalus Contortriplicatus ; Wave-podded- Milk Vetch. 

 Caulescent, procumbent : legumes writhed, channelled, vil- 

 lose. This is an annual plant, and varies wonderfully in 

 size and height in different soils. Native of Siberia. 



18. Astragalus Boeticus ; Triangular-podded Milk Vetch. 

 Caulescent, procumbent : spikes peduncled ; flowers yel- 

 low ; legumes prismatic, straight, three-sided, hooked at 

 top. Annual, flowering in July, and ripening seeds in 

 autumn. Native of Spain, Portugal, and Sicily. 



19. Astragalus Laxmanni. Caulescent, procumbent : 

 spikes elongated : legumes oblong, three-cornered, marked 

 with a furrow, mucronate, villose ; root perennial, branch- 

 ing ; corolla pale blue ; anthers yellow. It flowers in 

 June and July, and is a native of Siberia. 



20. Astragalus Stella. Caulescent, diffuse : heads pe- 

 duncled, lateral ; legumes straight, subulate, mucronate ; 

 corollas bluish purple. Native of Montpellier. 



21. Astragalus Sesameus ; Starry Milk Vetch. Caules- 

 cent, diffuse : heads subsessile, lateral ; legumes subulate, 

 reflected at the point. It is an annual plant ; flowering in 

 June and July, and a native of France and Italy. 



22. Astragalus Austriacus ; Austrian Milk Vetch. Cau- 

 lescent, prostrate, smooth, striated, weak : leaflets sublinear, 

 emarginate; legumes round; root perennial, woody; flowers 

 bluish, small, and without smell: they appear in May and June. 



23. Astragalus Leontinus. Caulescent, prostrate : legumes 

 ovate, villose ; flowers spiked, erect, whitish or pale blue. 

 This plant has no smell. Native country unknown. 



24. Astragalus Pentaglottis. Caulescent, procumbent : 

 legumes headed, folded back, compressed, converging, 

 crested, with a reflected point. It flowers in the beginning 

 of August, and bears seed at the end of the same month. 

 Native of Spain. 



25. Astragalus Epiglottis; Heart-podded Milk Vetch. 

 Caulescent, procumbent : legumes headed, sessile, nodding, 

 cordate, mucronate, folded back, naked. The plant is an 

 annual, with largish flowers of a deep purple colour. It flow- 

 ers in July, and ripens seed in autumn. Native of Provence, 

 Spain, Portugal, and of mountainous woods in the Levant. 



26. Astragalus Hypoglottis ; Purple Mountain Milk Vetch. 

 Caulescent, prostrate : legumes headed, ovate, folded back, 

 compressed, hairy, with a reflex point ; root perennial ; co- 

 rolla bluish, purple, large, and handsome. Native of sandy 

 and chalky pastures, flowering from May till July. It 

 varies with naked leaves and white flowers. It requires a 

 shady situation and a strong soil. 



27. Astragalus Syriacus ; Syrian Milk Vetch. Caulescent, 

 procumbent : heads peduncled ; flowers reflected ; legumes 

 tomeutose, ovate-oblong. Native of Siberia. 



28. Astragalus Arenarius. Subcaulescent, procumbent : 

 flowers subracemed, erect ; leaves tomentose ; root peren- 

 nial, filiform ; corolla blue, without blue streaks. Native 

 of Scania, in loose sand. 



29. Astragalus Glaux; Small Milk Vetch. Caulescent, 

 diffuse; heads peduncled, imbricate, ovate ; flowers erect j 

 legumes ovate, callous, inflated. Native of Spain. 



30. Astragalus Sinicus ; Chinese Astragalus. Caulescent, 

 prostrate ; umbels peduncled ; legumes prismatic, three- 

 sided, erect, subulate at top ; root annual. The flowers 

 appear in July and August, and the seeds ripen in autumn. 

 It grows naturally in China. For the'propagation and cul- 

 ture of this species, see the third species of this genus. 



31. Astragalus Alpinus ; Alpine Milk Vetch. Caulescent, 

 procumbent ; flowers pendulous, racemed ; legumes acute at 

 both ends, hairy ; stems rather more than a foot high ; flowers 

 specious, white ; banner the length of the keel, blue with 

 deeper-coloured lines, white at the base ; wings stiff, short, 

 narrow, hooked, white ; keel white, with a broad obtuse 

 beak. Native of the mountains of Switzerland and Lap- 

 land. 



32. Astragalus Ammodytes. Caulescent, undershrubby : 

 flowers twin ; legumes ovate, twin, woolly. Annual. Na- 

 tive of the sandy hills of southern Siberia. 



33. Astragalus Trimestris; Egyptian Milk Vetch. Sub- 

 caulescent : scapes mostly two-flowered ; legumes hooked, 

 subulate, two-keeled ; root annual. Native of Egypt, flow- 

 ering in June and July, and ripening its seeds in August. 

 This requires to be planted in a warm border. 



*** Scape naked, with a leafy Stem. 



34. Astragalus Verticiliaris. Leaflets aggregate, semiver- 

 ticilled. Native of eastern Siberia, beyond the lake Baikal. 



35. Astragalus Montanus. Nearly stemless : scapes longer 

 than the leaf; flowers loosely spiked; erect ; legumes ovate, 

 with an inflected point. Native of the mountains of Spain. 

 This plant requires a shady situation and a strong soil. 



36. Astragalus Vesicarius. Scapes longer than the leaves ; 

 flowers loosely spiked ; calices and legumes inflated, hirsute ; 

 root perennial ; banner of the corolla purple ; wings yel- 

 low, keel white. Native of Dauphiny and Siberia. 



37. Astragalus Physodes. Scapes equal to the leaves; 

 legumes inflated, subglobular, naked ; root perennial, creep- 

 ing ; flowers in a spike, yellow, appearing in June. Native 

 of Siberia. It requires a shady situation and a strong soil. 



38. Astragalus Caprinus. Scape erect ; leaflets ciliate ; 

 legumes ovate, tumid, villose ; root perennial, creeping ; 

 flowers pale yellow, very fragrant. Native of Barbary and 

 Russia. . 



39. Astragalus Uralensis ; Silky Milk Vetch. Stemless : 

 scape erect, longer than the leaves ; legumes subulate, in- 

 flated, villose, erect ; root long, woody ; flowers pale violet 

 colour. Native of Dauphiny, Carinthia, the Pyrenees, 

 and Siberia ; also of mountainous pastures in Scotland. 

 It requires an open situation and dry soil. 



40. Astragalus Monspessulanus ; Montpellier Milk Vetch. 

 Scapes declining, the length of the leaves; legumes subulate, 



