FABACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



5. Baptisia alba (L.) R. Br. White Wild 

 Indigo. Fig. 2457. 



Crotalaria alba L. Sp. PI. 716. 1753- 



Baptisia alba R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. Ed. 2, 3 : 6. 1811. 



Glabrous throughout, divergently branching, i-3 

 high. Leaves petioled, 3-foliolate; petioles slender, 

 3"-p" long; leaflets oblong or oblanceolate, narrowed at 

 the base, obtuse at the apex, i'-ii' long, 4" -6" wide, 

 rather thin, green in drying; stipules and bracts minute, 

 subulate, early deciduous; racemes elongated, erect, 

 6'-io' long, lateral, long-peduncled ; pedicels 3"-8" long; 

 flowers white, 6" -7" long; pod linear-oblong, about ii' 

 long, 4" thick, short-stalked in the calyx, abruptly tipped 

 with an almost filiform deciduous style. 



In dry soil, North Carolina to Florida. Recorded from 

 Missouri and southern Indiana, but we have seen no speci- 

 mens collected west or north of the South Atlantic States. 

 Erroneously recorded from Minnesota and Ontario. May- 

 June. Prairie-indigo. 



6. Baptisia leucantha T. & G. Large 

 White Wild Indigo. Fig. 2458. 



Baptisia leucantha T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 385. 1840. 



Glabrous throughout, succulent, branching, 

 2-4 high, the branches stout, ascending. 

 Leaves petioled, 3-foliolate, blackening in dry- 

 ing; leaflets obovate or oblanceolate, i'-2' long, 

 6"-i2" wide, very obtuse, rounded and some- 

 times slightly emarginate at the apex, nar- 

 rowed or cuneate at the base ; stipules lanceo- 

 late or linear, equalling or shorter than the 

 petioles, deciduous ; racemes lateral, sometimes 

 i long, loosely flowered ; flowers white, g"-io" 

 long; pedicels 2"-3" long; pod ellipsoid, long- 

 stalked in the calyx, about 9" long, tipped with 

 the subulate style. 



In rich soil, Ontario to Minnesota, south to 

 Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, 

 Arkansas and Texas. June-July. White false- 

 indigo. 



5. CROTALARIA L. Sp. PI. 714. 1753. 



Herbs, sometimes slightly woody, with simple (,or in some tropical species 3-7-foliolate) 

 leaves, and racemose flowers. Calyx 5-toothed, slightly 2-lipped. Standard orbicular or 

 ovate, often cordate; wings oblong or obovate; keel curved. Stamens monadelphous, their 

 sheath deeply cleft; anthers of 2 forms, alternating with each other, the one small, versatile, 

 the other larger. Ovary sessile or short-stalked ; style more or less curved. Pod oblong or 

 globose, inflated, coriaceous or membranous, many-seeded, the seeds loose at maturity. 

 [Greek, a rattle.] 



About 250 species, mainly natives of tropical regions. Besides the following, some 7 others 

 occur in the southern and southwestern United States. Type species : Crotalaria lotifolia L. 



Stem and branches erect or ascending ; leaves, at least the upper, lanceolate or oblong. 



i. C.sagittalis. 

 Stems prostrate, from a deep root ; leaves broadly oblong or oval. 2. C. rotundifolia. 



