LEGUMINOSyE. (PULSIi FAMILY.) 135 



bracts scale-like, often strinte. (Name from Sta^oy, a hoiid or chain, from tlio 



coiinectecl joints of the pods.) 



§ 1. Pod raised on a sialic within the ra/i/.r (slifx) man;/ timrs lonfjcr than the sliijlithj 

 toothed rali/x and nearli) as Ion;/ as the jxdicvl, slraii/htish on the u/i/ier maiyiu, 

 dee/il;/ sinuate on the lower ; the 1 - 4 joints mosdy huif-ohovate and coniace on 

 the hurt: stamms monadel/ihoiis below: /ilanls nearly glabrous: stems erect or 

 asreiidiii;/: ranine terminal, /xinicled : sti/mles hristle-form, deeiduons. 



1. D. nudifl6rum, DC. Iauvvs idl crowded at the summit of sterile stems ; 

 leaflets broadly ovate, bluntisb, whitisb beneath; raceme dowjnted on an ascend- 

 in;/ mostly leafless stalk or scape from the rout, 2^ long. — Dry woods : common. 



2. D. acuminatum, DC. Lenres all croicded at the summit of the stem from 

 which arises the eloni/aled naked raceme or panicle; leaflets round-ovjitc, taper- 

 pointed, ;;reen both sitU's, the end one round (4' -5' long). — Kich woods. 



3. D. pauciflbrum, DC. Lem-es scattered along the low (8' -15' high) 

 a.seending stems; leatiets rhombic-ovate, bluntisb, i)alc beneath; raceme few- 

 Jtowered, terminal. — Woods, W. New York and Pennsylvania to Illinois and 

 southward. 



§ 2. Pod raised on a stalk (sti/w) little if not all surpassinr/ the dee/^ly-rlefl calyx: 

 stems lon;i and /jrostrate or decumbent : racemes axillary and terminal. 



♦ Sti/>utes coHsjiicimus, ovate, taper-pointed, striate, persistent : racemes mostly sim/)le. 



4. D. rotundifblium, DC. Sof -hairy all over, truly prostrate; leaflets 

 orbicular, or the odd one slightly rhomboid ; flowers pur/de; pods almost equally 

 sinuate on both edges, 3-5-jointed; the joints rhomboid-oval. — Dry rocky 

 woods : rather common. ^ 



Var. glabr^tum: almost glabrous, otherwise nearly as the ordinary form. 

 (Iledysanim bmiiifii>um, .\tuhl. in jjart, Bi;/el., &f.) — Mass., New York, &c. 



5. D. OChroleucum,'M. A. Curtis. Stems sparsely hairy, AnQwrnhiint; leaf- 

 lets nearly glalirous, ovate, acute or obtuse, transversely reticulated beneath, 

 the lateral ones smaller or sometimes wanting ; racemes much elongated ; 

 corolla whitish; jmls twisted, 2-4-jointed, the large rhomi)oid joints smooth and 

 reticulatc<l but the margins downy. (Tcriiaps Muhlenberg's II. humifusum 

 from '■ C'arulina.") — Woo.lhiiuls, Marylau.l {W. M. C'anby) and southward. 



* # Stipules siiKi/Irr, lanceolate and awl-shaped, less /lersistciit : racemes panicled. 



6. D. humifusum, Beck (as to syn.). Glabrous or nearly so, procum- 

 bent ; leaflets orate or oratc-oblon;/, rather obtu.se, much smaller than in the two 

 jn-eceding (14'-2' long) ; corolla purple ; pods 2-4-jointcd, flat, the oval-rhom- 

 boid joints minutely .scabrous throughout. (Iledysarum humifusum, Muhl. Fl. 

 Luncast. herb., ex Canby.) — Dry sandy soil (Lancaster, IVnn., Mnhlenbery), 

 Salisbury, Maryland, W. M. Canby. 



§ 3. Pod slie/htly if at all stalked in the ctdyx : racemes panicled. 



♦ Stems l(dl (3° -5°) and erect ; the persistent sti/ndes and deciduous bracts laieje 



and conspicuous, ovnte or ovate-lannolate, ta/ter-jiointed : pods of A-1 unequal- 



sided ihombic joints, which are considerably lom/er than broad, about ^' long.' 



[Flowers rathr lar;/e.) 



1. D. candscens, DC Stem loosely branched, hairy; leaflets orate, 



bluulish, about the length of the petioles, whitish and reticulated beneath, both sides 



