LEGUMINOS^E. (PULSE FAMILY.) 185 



I. Pod turgid, completely or imperfectly 2-celled by the intrusion of the dorsal 

 suture, the ventral suture being not at all or less deeply inflexed. ASTRA- 

 GALUS proper. 



# Pod plum-shaped, succulent, becoming thick and fleshy, indehiscent, not stipi- 

 tate, completely 2-celled. 



1. A. caryocarpus, Ker. (GROUND PLUM.) Pale and minutely ap- 

 pressed-pubescent ; leaflets narrowly oblong; flowers in a short spike-like 

 raceme ; corolla violet-purple ; fruit glabrous, ovate-globular, more or less pointed. 

 about I' in diameter, very thick-walled, cellular or corky when dry. Sask. 

 and Minn, to Mo., Col., and Tex. May. 



2. A. Mexicanus, A. DC. Smoother, or pubescent with looser hairs, 

 larger; leaflets roundish, obovate, or oblong; flowers larger (10- 12" long) ; 

 calyx softly hairy ; corolla cream-color, bluish only at the tip ; fruit globular, very 

 obtuse and pointless, V or more in diameter ; otherwise like the last. Prai- 

 ries and open plains, 111. to Kan., south to Tex. The unripe fruits of both 

 resemble green plums whence the popular name and are eaten, raw or 

 cooked, by travellers. 



3. A. Platt^nsis, Nutt. Loosely villous; stipules conspicuous; leaflets 

 oblong, often glabrous above ; flowers crowded in a short spike or oblong head, 

 cream-color often tinged or tipped with purple ; fruit ovate, pointed, and with 

 the calyx villous. Gravelly or sandy banks, Minn, to Ind. and Ala., west to 

 Col. and Tex. Var. TENNESSEENSIS, Gray, has the pod oblong and slightly 

 curved, and much less fleshy. May. 



* # Pod dry, coriaceous, cartilaginous or membranous, dehiscent. 

 -<- Pod completely 2-celled, sessile. 



4. A. mollissimus, Torr. Stout, decumbent, densely silky-villous through- 

 out and tomentose ; leaflets 19-29, ovate-oblong; peduncles elongated; spikes 

 dense, with rather large violet flowers (6-12" long); pod narrow-oblong (5- 

 9" long), glabrous, somewhat obcompressed and sulcate at both sutures, at length 

 incurved. Neb. to Kan. and Tex., west to Col. The most common " loco "- 

 plant, and said to be very poisonous to cattle. 



5. A. Canad(nsis, L. Tall and erect (1-4 high), somewhat pubescent 

 or glabrate ; leaflets 21 -27, oblong; flowers greenish cream-color, very numer- 

 ous, in long dense spikes; pods crowded, oblong (6" long), glabrous, terete, 

 scarcely sulcate and only on the back, nearly straight. River-banks, western 

 N. Y. to N. Ga., and far westward. 



6. A. adsiirgens, Pall. Ascending or decumbent (4-18' high), cinereous 

 with minute appressed pubescence or glabrate; leaflets about 21, narrowly or 

 linear-oblong ; spike dense, with medium-sized pale or purplish flowers ; pu- 

 bescence of calyx appressed; pod oblong (4-5" long), Jinely pubescent, trian- 

 gular-compressed, with a deep dorsal furrow, straight. Red River valley, Minn., 

 to W. Kan., and westward. (Asia.) 



7. A. hypoglottis, L. Slender (6' -2 long), diffusely procumbent or 

 ascending, with a rather loose pubescence or nearly glabrous ; leaflets 15-21, 

 oblong, obtuse or retuse ; flowers violet, capitate ; calyx loosely pubescent ; pod 

 as in the last, but ovate and silky-villous. Red River valley, Minn., to central 

 Kan. and westward. 



