Prairie Thermopsis. 



VOL. II.] PEA FAMILY, 265 



2. Thermopsis rhombifolia (Nutt.) Richards. 



(Fig. 2048.) 



Cytisus rhombifolius Nutt. Eraser's Cat. 1813. 

 Thermia rhombifolia Nutt. Gen. i: 282. 1818. 



Thermopsis rhombifolia Richards. Frank. Journ. 

 App. 13. 1823. 



Erect, S'-zc/ high, branched, appressed 

 silky-pubescent. Leaves petioled; leaflets 

 oval or obovate or rhombic-elliptic, obtuse, en- 

 tire, % f -\' long, 3 // -6 // wide, sessile; stipules 

 broad; racemes terminal or lateral, rather 

 dense, few-flowered, 2 / -5 / long; pedicels 2"- 

 4" long, bracted; flowers yellow, about 10" 

 long; pod linear, generally strongly recurved- 

 spreading, several-seeded, stalked in the calyx, 

 3'-4' long. 



In sandy soil, on prairies, Kansas, Nebraska, 

 Dakota and Manitoba, west to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. June-July. 



4. BAPTISIA Vent. Dec. Gen. Nov. 9. 1808. 



Perennial erect branching herbs, with sheathing basal scales, alternate 3-foliolate or 

 sometimes simple perfoliate leaves, and showy yellow white or blue flowers in terminal or 

 lateral racemes. Stipules foliaceous, or small, or none. Calyx campanulate, obtuse at base, 

 or sometimes slightly turbinate, the teeth equal and separate, or the two upper ones united. 

 Corolla and stamens as in Thermopsis. Ovary stipitate. Pod stalked, ovoid, oblong or 

 nearly globose, pointed, inflated, the valves often coriaceous. [Greek, dyeing.] 



About 16 species, natives of eastern and southern North America. 



Flowers blue; plant glabrous. I. B. australis. 

 Flowers yellow. 



Racemes numerous, terminal; plant glabrous. 2. B. tinctoria. 



Racemes few, lateral; plant more or less pubescent. 3. B. villosa. 

 Flowers white or cream color. 



Very pubescent. 4. B. bracleaia. 

 Glabrous or nearly so. 



Leaflets oblong or lanceolate, green in drying. 5. B. alba. 



Leaflets obovate-cuneate, black in drying. 6. B. leucantha. 



i. Baptisia australis (L>) R. Br. Blue Wild 

 or Blue False Indigo. (Fig. 2049.) 



Sophora auslralis L. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, 2: 287. 1767. 

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

 1811. 



Glabrous, stout, 4-6 high. Leaves short-petioled, 

 3-foliolate; leaflets oblanceolate or sometimes oval, 

 obtuse at the apex, cuneate at the base, entire, i'-2%' 

 long, sessile or nearly so; stipules lanceolate, equal- 

 ling the petioles, or longer, persistent; racemes ter- 

 minal, erect, loosely flowered, elongated (sometimes 

 !(/ long); bracts narrow, caducous; pedicels 2 // ~3 // 

 long; flowers indigo-blue, 9 // -i2 // long; pod oblong, 

 stalked in the calyx, I'-i^' long, 5 // -6 // thick, tipped 

 with the subulate style. 



In rich soil, western Pennsylvania to Missouri, south 

 to Georgia and Arkansas. June-Aug. 



A hybrid of this species with B. leucophaea has been 

 observed by Prof. A. S. Hitchcock in Kansas. 



