PSIDIUM 



PSORALEA 



2849 



valuable. P. guianense, Pers., is a synonym of P. fluviatile. Rich., a 

 species with branchlets terete, glabrous: Ivs. oval, glabrous: pedi- 

 cels opposite, 1-fld. Cayenne. P. guineense, Swartz, is a synonym 

 of P. Araca, Raddi, according to Berg, but DeCandolle considers 

 it a distinct species. He distinguishes it from P. Araca by the Ivs. 

 less soft, glabrous above, with the nervation not raised as in the 

 latter. More recently Urban uses it in preference to P. Araca, 

 which latter is made a synonym; he states that it resembles P. 

 Guajava, but is easily distinguished by the less numerous trans- 

 verse veins, not impressed above. Swartz, in describing P. gui- 

 neense, stated that it came from Air., and was cult, in Santo 

 Domingo, but as all psidiums are now known to be American, he 

 was doubtless mistaken regarding its origin. P. littordle, Raddi, 

 intro. by Franceschi, resembles P. Cattleianum very closely, but 

 has Ivs. somewhat more attenuate toward the base, and obovate or 

 pyriform frs. Berg (in Linmea, xxvii) groups this species, P. Cat- 

 tleianum and P. humile together under the name of P. variabile. S. 

 Brazil. P. montanum, Swartz, is a species from the mountains of 

 Jamaica, with 4-angled branchlets: Ivs. oblong-oval, acuminate, 

 glabrous: peduncles many-fld. : fr. subrotund. 



F. W. POPENOE. 



PSILOSTROPHE (Greek, naked bud, referring to the 

 naked receptacle). Syn. Riddettia. Composite. Low 

 and corymbosely branched woolly perennial herbs 

 with alternate and spatulate or linear Ivs., the cauline 

 entire, and with small heads of yellow fls., the ligules 

 large in proportion, pale or whitish in age and thin- 

 papery: achenes narrow, terete, obscurely striate and 

 angled. About 7 species, N. Amer. P. tagetina, Greene 

 (Riddcllia taget',na, Nutt.). Loosely or somewhat vil- 

 lously lanate, fairly widely branched: radical and even 

 lower cauline Ivs. often laciniate-pinnatifid : heads 

 numerous, mostly cymosely clustered. W. Texas, E. 

 Colo, and Ariz. Intro, in botanic gardens abroad. 



PSOPHOCARPUS (Greek, noise and fruit, referring 

 to the fact that the pods when gathered and laid in the 

 sun, blow up and explode with a noise). Leffuminosx. 

 Tall twining herbs, with large tuberous roots, one of 

 which is used as a vegetable in subtropical gardening: 

 Ivs. 3-foliolate, 'stipellate; stipules fastened above the 

 base: fls. rather large, lilac; calyx with the 2 upper 

 teeth connate; corolla much exserted, standard sub- 

 orbiculate, wings obliquely obovate, keel obtuse, 

 incurved; stamens monadelphous, the upper free down- 

 ward; ovary stipitate: pod square, with a distinct 

 wing to each angle. About 5 species, Trop. Afr. and 

 Asia. 



tetragon61obus, DC. GOA BEAN. Root large, annual: 

 sts. weak, wide-twining, glabrous: Ifts. entire, ovate, 

 acute, 3-6 x 2-6 in. : racemes lax, few-fld. ; pedicels 

 elongated: fls. large, light blue; calyx glabrous, lateral 

 teeth oblong, lowest shorter and deltoid: pod 6-9 x 1 in., 

 the wings J^-J^in. broad, usually much crisped and 

 toothed. India. Also grown in tropical and subtropi- 

 cal regions for the young tubers which are eaten raw or 

 cooked, and for the young pods which are an excellent 

 vegetable. F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



PSORALEA (Greek, warty; referring to the glandular 

 dots which occur on the plants). Leguminosx. SCURFY 

 PEA. Herbs, shrubs, or subshrubs useful as border 

 plants. 



Usually copiously sprinkled with resinous black or 

 pellucid dots and strongly scented: Ivs. pinnate or 

 trifoliate, rarely unifoliate; stipules free or adnate to the 

 petiole: fls. in racemes or spikes, axillary or terminal, 

 blue, purple, or white; calyx not enlarged after flower- 

 ing, unequally 5-lobed; standard ovate or orbicular, 

 clawed, wing oblong or falcate, keel incurved, obtuse, 

 dark-colored; ovary sessile: pod ovoid, short, inde- 

 hiscent, 1-seeded. About 115 species common in the 

 tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres, over 30 

 species in N. Amer. The genus comprises both green- 

 house and hardy plants, some annual, others biennial, 

 and still others perennial. The shrubby kinds are prop, 

 by cuttings of half-ripened shoots, the herbaceous spe- 

 cies by divisions when the new growth begins. The 

 S. African species thrive in well-drained sandy peat, 

 the others in ordinary garden soil. 



A. Plants hardy in the N. 

 B. Number of Ifte. 7. 



subacaulis, Torr. & Gray. Perennial herb, stemless 

 or nearly so, about 1 ft. high, with numerous, usually 

 purple fls. in ovate or oblong, dense spikes: Ifts. 7, 

 digitate, obovate-oblong, 1 in. long: fl.-st. longer than 

 Ivs., rigid. April- June. Rocky hills, Tenn. 



BB. Number of Ifts. 3. 

 c. Lvs. digitately compound. 



lanceolata, Pursh. Perennial herb, much branched, 

 glabrous or nearly so, densely dark-glandular, 1-2 ft. 

 high: Ifts. sessile, bright green, entire, linear or oblance- 

 olate: fls. bluish white, 3 lines long. June, July. Kans. 

 to W. Canada west to Wash., etc. B.B. 2:281. 



cc. Lvs. pinnately compound. 



physddes, Douglas. Perennial herb, slender, 1-2 ft. 

 high: Ifts. ovate, about 1 in. long: fls. in short, close 

 racemes; calyx J^in. long, becoming enlarged and 

 inflated until nearly J^in. long; corolla J^in. long, white 

 or purplish. Mountains of coast ranges, Calif. 



BBB. Number of Ifts. 5. 



esculenta, Pursh. POMME BLANCHE. Hardy herba- 

 ceous perennial 4-18 in. high: Ifts. 5 and digitate, short- 

 stalked, oval or obovate, entire, obtuse, narrowed at 

 base, 1-2 in. long: fls. bluish; spikes dense, 1^-3 in. 

 long: root large, often clustered, starchy. June. Prai- 

 ries, Man. and Dak. south. B.B. 2:284. The following 

 points, by Sprague, on the pomme blanche (also called 



Erairie apple, prairie turnip, and Indian or Missouri 

 read-root) are taken from Goodale's Wild Flowers of 

 America: "In the autumn the top of the plant dies 

 and separates from the root, near the ground, and is 

 blown about the prairies. After the top has gone the 

 root cannot be readily found, and hence the Indians 

 dig them in August for their winter use. The root lies 

 deep in the ground and is about the size of a hen's egg. 

 The outside is covered with a thick integument almost 

 as tough as wood and of a dark brown color. The inside 

 is whitish and not unlike a chestnut in appearance and 

 taste, but not so sweet. The Indian women dig the 

 roots with great facility by means of a pointed stick 2 

 or 3 feet long." The roots are spindle-shaped or turnip- 

 shaped. If the Indians use them immediately, they gen- 

 erally roast them in ashes. They are also dried and 

 stored for winter, and when wanted they are mashed 

 between stones, mixed with water and baked into cakes 

 over the coals. The root was frequently found in the 

 canoes of the Indians by early travelers before the 

 plant which produced it was known to white men. Nut- 

 tall wrote: "The taste is rather insipid, but not dis- 

 agreeable either raw or boiled. Texture laminated, 

 always tenacious, solid and never farinaceous." In 

 1846 the pomme blanche was proposed as a substitute 

 for the potato. Its claims to consideration were dis- 

 cussed in several publications, with the result that it 

 was thought to offer no possibilities of advance over 

 the potato. 



AA. Plants tender. 

 B. Number of Ifts. S. 

 c. Habit herbaceous. 



bituminosa, Linn. Perennial herb, 1H-3 ft. high, 

 appressed hirsute: Ifts. nearly entire; lower ones ovate, 

 obtuse; upper ones much narrower, acute: peduncles 

 longer than Ivs. ; fl.-heads dense, involucrate, becoming 

 elongated in fr. ; fls. nearly 1 in. long. Spring and early 

 summer. Poor soil, Arabia. 



cc. Habit shrubby. 



glanduldsa, Linn. Petioles scabrous; Ifts. 3, digitate, 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate: fls. blue and white, in usu- 

 ally axillary racemes. Chile and Peru. B.M. 990. 



