Astragalus. LEGUMINOS^E. 147 



than the tube : corolla purple, about half an inch long : pod ovate and pointed, in- 

 flated, of somewhat chartaceous texture, nearly three fourths of an inch long, hoary 

 with appressed hairs, nearly or quite 2-celled. PI. Hartw. 307. A. Arthu-Schottii, 

 Gray, 1. c. 209. 



Near Monterey, Coulter, according to his herbarium ; but probably collected in the arid region 

 of the southeastern borders of the State, where it was found by Fremont, Schott, Cooper, &c. 



7. A. aridus, Gray. Silvery silky-canescent, like the preceding: leaflets oblong, 

 3 or 4 lines long: peduncles shorter than the leaves, spicately 5 -8- flowered: corolla 

 barely twice the length of the calyx, hardly over 2 lines long, yellowish-white : pod 

 obliquely ovate, acute, inflated, of tirui chartaceous texture, half an inch long, canes- 

 cent, one-celled. Proc. Am. Acad. vi. 223. 



Southern borders of the State, between Colorado and San Diego, Thurber. 



II. Species with perennial roots : leaflets and stipules not spinescent. 

 1. Pod bladdery-inflated (the walls thin and membranous), several many-seeded, 



* Two-celled by the turning in of both sutures till they meet or nearly so, more or 

 less didymous, being grooved externally down both sides, sessile in t/te calyx. 



A. DIPHYSUS, Gray, PI. Fendl. 34, which extends from New Mexico to the centre of Nevada, 

 comes near A. lentiginosus, but is glabrous throughout, except sometimes a little pubescence on 

 the calyx, and has rather large pods. 



8. A. lentiginosus, Dougl. A span to a foot or so high, the tufted stems 

 soon diffusely spreading, from slightly to hoary-pubescent: leaflets 11 to 19, from 

 obovate or obcordate to oblong, a quarter to half an inch long : peduncle short : 

 flowers and fruits mostly crowded in the oblong spike or raceme : corolla either 

 white or purple, nearly half an inch long : pod turgid-ovate and pointed, more or 

 less incurved, usually puberulent, occasionally purplish-mottled, seldom an inch and 

 sometimes only half an inch long. A. ineptus, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. vi. 525, 

 appears to be only a narrow-leaved and pubescent form. A. diaphanus, Dougl. in 

 Hook. Fl. i. 151. 



Var. Fremontii, Watson. More hoary-pubescent, with looser-flowered spikes, 

 usually on a longer peduncle : stem flexuous. A. Fremontii, Torr. & Gray. 



Common through the arid interior region, from Washington Territory and the eastern part of 

 the Sierra Nevada to the southern borders of the State ; the variety mostly southward. Var. 

 floribundus, Gray, is the ordinary form well developed. This species is one of the poisonous 

 " Rattle-weeds " of the southern and eastern parts of the State. 



9. A. platytropis, Gray. Dwarf and tufted on long and stout horizontal root- 

 stocks, densely silvery-silky ; the stems very short, hardly rising above the ground : 

 leaflets 7 to 13, obovate or oblong, 3 lines or less in length : slender scape-like 

 peduncles about the length of the tufted leaves, bearing a little head of 5 or 6 

 flowers : corolla yellowish-white, except the broad and round-tipped keel, which is 

 purplish and as long as the other petals : pod turgid-ovate, very short-pointed, 

 puberulent, sometimes purplish-mottled, an inch or less in length. Proc. Am. 

 Acad. vi. 526. 



Sierra Nevada above Sonora Pass, at 10,000 feet, Brewer. East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, 

 at 11,000 feet, Watson. 



* * One-celled pod, ivith no turning in of the dorsal suture, 



+- Stipitate, i. e. the pod raised more or less on a stalk of its own above the calyx. 



++ Stems low and tufted : pod obovate or oval and very obtuse : peduncles hardly 



exceeding the leaf, rather few and densely flowered. 



10. A. Hookerianus, Dietr. Silky-villous or pubescent, diffusely tufted, a 

 span high : leaflets 1 3 to 19, oblong or linear, 2 or 3 lines long : flowers very short- 

 pedicelled : corolla white or whitish : pod obovate and not in the least pointed, 



