286 



PAPILIONACEAE. 

 15. AMORPHA L. Sp. PI. 713. 1753. 



[Vox,. II. 



Glandular-punctate shrubs, with odd-pinnate leaves, and small violet blue or white flow- 

 ers, in dense terminal spicate racemes. Calyx-teeth nearly equal, or the lower ones longer; 

 standard obovate, erect, clawed, folded around the stamens and style; wings and keel none. 

 Stamens monadelphous below; anthers all alike. Ovary sessile, 2-celled; style curved; 

 stigma terminal. Pod short, oblong, curved, nearly indehiscent, i-2-seeded. [Greek, de- 

 formed, four petals being absent. ] 



About 10 species, natives of North America and Mexico. 



Tall shrub; leaflets i'-2* long; pod usually 2-seeded. 

 Low shrubs; leaflets 3" -6" long; pod i -seeded. 



Glabrous or nearly so; spikes commonly solitary. 



Densely canescent; spikes commonly clustered. 



1. A.frnticosa. 



2. A. nana. 



3. A. canescens. 



i. Amorpha fruticosa L. False or 

 Bastard Indigo. (Fig. 2101.) 



Amorpha fruticosa L. Sp. PI. 713. 1753. 



A shrub 5-2o high, with pubescent or gla- 

 brous foliage. Leaves petioled, 6'-i6' long; 

 leaflets 11-21, distant, short-stalked, oval or 

 elliptic, obtuse and mucronulate, or sometimes 

 slightly emarginate at the apex, rounded or 

 slightly narrowed at the base, i / -2 / long, 5"- 

 10" wide, entire; spike-like racemes dense.clus- 

 tered or solitary, 3'-6' long; flowers short-pedi- 

 cclled, 3 /r -4" long; standard violet-purple, 2- 

 3 times as long as the calyx, emarginate; 

 stamens exserted; pod glabrous, glandular, 

 thick-stalked, $"-4," long, acute, usually 2- 

 seeded. 



Along streams, Ohio to Minnesota and Manitoba, 

 south to Florida, Colorado and Chihuahua. Also 

 escaped from cultivation in the Middle States. 

 May-July. 



2. Amorpha nana Nutt. Fragrant False 

 Indigo. (Fig. 2102.) 



Amorpha nana Nutt. Fras. Cat. 1813. 



Amorpha microphylla Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 466. 



1814. 



A low bushy shrub, seldom more than i high, gla- 

 brous or nearly so throughout. Leaves short-peti- 

 oled, numerous, I'-jf long; leaflets 13-19, rigid, 

 short-stalked, oval or oblong, rounded or emarginate 

 and mucronatc at the apex, obtuse or acute at the base, 

 3 / '-6 // long, iW-^W wide; spike-like racemes com- 

 monly solitary; flowers fragrant; standard purplish, 

 about 2" long; calyx-teeth acuminate; pod short, 

 i -seeded. 



Prairies, Iowa to Minnesota, Dakota and the Northwest 

 Territory. May. 



