244 LEGUMINOSJi. Aslruijulas. 



Var. glutinosa, Watson. More or less covered witli stout spreading glandular 

 hairs, eapecially the pinluncles, wliich are shorter than the spikes : calyx very 

 glandular. — G. (jlutinusa, Nutt. in Torr. iV. Gray, Fl. i. 21)8. 



The tyi)iciil form of tlid ,s|)C(io8 niiif^os from AVasliinj,'tini 'IVnitory to Hiulson's 15ay aiul soutli- 

 wiinl to ArkiiimuH, Ntnv Mnxi.n, uikI NoviuIu, uikI may \w fouiul on Hlnnm-liankH in NorlliiiM«tcrii 

 Culifornia. Tlio rarer varioly lius I'ooii collccti'il iu "Waslilngtoii Torrltory {Nuttall, Lyti/l), und 

 in Corral Hollow, Alameda "Co., Brewer. It is described as having the wings and keel tinned 

 with purple ; the fruit is not known. The leaves in both forms are often sprinkled beneath with 

 minute resinous globules. 



13. ASTRAGALUS, Touru. Rattle-weed. (By A. Gkay.) 

 Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla and its slender-clawed petals usually narrow : keel not 

 pointed. Stamens diadelplious. Stigiua terminal and minute. Legume (pod) 

 very various, commonly turgid or intlated, one or both sutures usually projecting 

 inward more or less, the dorsal one fre(iuently so much as to divide the cell into 

 two. Seeds few or many, on slender stalks, generally small for the size of the pod. 

 — Herbs, or a few Avoody at base; witli unequally pinnate leaves, and rather small 

 flowers, chiefly in simple spikes or racemes from the axils ; the peduncle commonly 

 elongated. — Gray, Ivev. in Proc. Am. Acad. vi. 188 ; Watson, Bot. King Exp. 435. 



A vast gonus, of five or six huudre<l species, mainly of the northern liemisplicro and the tem- 

 perate or frigid zones, most numerous in Asia, and next in North America between the Missis- 

 sippi and the Pacific. In California they have the rejjutation of being poisonous to sheep, which 

 would be most unexpected were it not that several Papilionacece of Australia are known to be so. 

 The fruit is needed for the determination of the species. To aid in this rather difficult matter 

 an artificial key is here given. Besides the following, several other of the almost 150 North 

 American species now known may reach California or its borders ; but it is impossible to indicate 

 them beforehand. 



OxYTROi'is, DC, a genus which is distinguished from AstrMjalus by a subulate beak at the 

 tip of the keel, might be expected nt alpine elevations in the Sierra Nevada, at least in the 

 northern portion, but no rei)resentativo has been met with within or near the State. 



♦ Leaflets not prickly-pointed, 

 -i- Root annual. 

 Pod wrinkled, didymous, 2-seeded. 

 Pod not wrinkled, several - many-seeded, 



Narrowly oblong, 5 - 10-seeded : flowers 5 to 9 in a head. 

 Ovate-oblong, 4 - 6-seeded : flowers as the last. 

 Linear, falcate : flowei-s few and crowded, very small. 

 Ovate, inflated, acute or iiointed. 

 Thin-bladdery, incmvcd, 1 -colled. 

 Chartaceous and bladdery, 2-celled. 

 Firm-chartaceous, canescent, 1-celled. 



+- Root perennial. 



++ Pod bladdery-inflated, thin-membranaceous, ample 



Pod 2-celled, ovate, often piu'plish-mottlcd. 



Plant slightly or very ])ubescent : stems 6 to 18 inclies long. 

 Plant silvery-silky, nearly stemh^ss. 

 Pod 1-celled, the dorsal suture not intruded, 

 Stipitate in or raised out of the calyx. 

 Stems a span high : pod very obtu.se, 

 Obovate, 1 or 2 inches long. 

 Oval, an inch or less long. 

 Stems a foot or more high. 



Stipe little if at all exceeding the calyx. 

 Pod ovate, acute, not oblique. 



Pod clavate-obovate, oblique, pointed at both ends, pendulous. 13. 

 Pod semi-ovate, acntish, on a recurved rigid stipe. 14. 



Stipe filiform, an inch long, almost equalling the oval pod. 15. A. leucophyllus. 



