PULSE FAMILY. 125 



C. racemosus, Hort. From Teneriffe ; has flowers more spicate, and 

 obloiig-spatulate leaflets 3—4 times larger than the last. 



10. LABURNUM. (Ancient Latin name.) 



L. vufgare, (iris. Laiu kmm, Golden Chain, or Bean Tree. A low 

 tree with smooth iirt-LMi bark ; leaves slender-petioled ; leaflets o, oblong 

 (2'-3' long), pubescent beneath ; flowers showy, golden-yellow, hanging 

 in long racemes, in late spring ; pods hairy, with one thicker edge, but 

 not winged. Eu. Several cult, forms. 



11. LUPINUS, LUPINE. (Latin: htpus, a wolf, because Lupines 

 were thought to devour the fertility of the soil.) 



* Perennials. 



L. perennis, Linn. AVild L. Somewhat hairy ; stem erect, 1°-1.^° 

 high ; leaflets 7-11, spatulate oblong or oblanceolate, green ; raceme long ; 

 flowers of showy purplish blue (rarely pale), in late spring. N. Eng. to 

 Minn, and S. 



L. polyphyllus, Lindl. Many-leaved L. 3°-4° high, rather hairy ; 

 leaflets 13-15, Uinceolate or oblanceolate ; raceme very long, dense ; 

 flowers blue, sometimes purple, variegated, or even white, in June. Ore. 

 and Cal. ; the principal hardy perennial species of the gardens. 



* * Annuals, or cult, as aniiiials. 



H- Ocules only 2 ; leaflets usually 9. 



L. microcdrpus, Sims. l°-2° high, sparsely hairy ; flowers yellow to 

 (rarely) white or pink, forming distinct and separate whorls in the long 

 raceme. Cal. 



H- ^- Ovules 4-8 ; leaflets usually feroer (5-9). 

 ++ Flou-ers normally blue ; stems dwarf (1° or less). 



L. afflnis, Agardh. Short-hairy ; leaflets 5-7, rather smooth above, 

 broadly wedge-obovate, obtuse, or emarginate ; bracts short ; flowers 

 wliorled in the raceme, deep blue*. Cal. 



L. nanus, Dougl. Dwarf L. Long-hairy ; leaflets linear to oblance- 

 olat(% usually acute, pubescent both sides ; bracts exceeding calyx ; 

 flowers bluish-purple. Cal. 



++ ++ Flou-ers blue, white, or rose-color; stems tall (2° or more). 



L. mutdbilis. Sweet. Cult, from S. Am. ; tall, very smooth through- 

 out ; leaflets blunt, about 9, narrow-oblong; flowers very large, sweet- 

 scented, violet-purple (or a white variety), with yellow and a little red on 

 the standard. 



L. hirsutus, Linn. Cult, in old gardens, from Eu. Clothed with soft 

 white hairs ; leaflets spatulate-oblong ; flowers in loose whorls in the 

 raceme, blue, with rose-color and white varieties ; pods very hairy. 



++++*+ Flowers yelloio. 



L. luteus, Linn. Yellow L., of the gardens, fr<im Ku., silky-hairy, 

 rather low ; flowers in whorls, crowded in a dense spike. 



12. MELILOTUS, MELILOT, SWEET CLOVER. (Greek : /ione//, 

 Lotus.) Foliage sweet-scented, especially in drying. Natives of the 

 Old World, running wild in waste or cultivated ground ; flowers all 

 summer. ® (2) 



