Vol.. II.] 



PEA FAMILY. 



289 



17. KUHNISTERA Lain. Encycl. 3: 370. 1789. 



[PETAI/5STEMON Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 48. 1803.] 



Perennial glandular-punctate herbs, with long or deep roots, odd-pinnate leaves, and 

 pink purple or white spicate or capitate flowers. Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Petals on long 

 slender claws; standard oblong or cordate; wings and keel-petals similar to each other, 

 their claws adnate to the sheath of the stamen-tube almost to its summit. Stamens 5, alter- 

 nate with the petals. Ovary sessile, 2-ovuled; style subulate. Pod membranous, included 

 in the calyx, i-2-seeded. [Named from the resemblance of these plants to the genus Kuhnia.'} 



About 35 species, natives of North America and Mexico. 

 Foliage glabrous or very slightly pubescent. 

 Flowers white ; leaflets 3-9. 



Leaflets oblong, linear-oblong or oblanceolate ; spikes cylindric or oblong. 



Calyx villous-pubescent. 

 Calyx glabrous or nearly so. 



Stem little branched; spikes cylindric; leaflets ^'-i' long, thin. 

 Stem much branched; spikes oblong; leaflets smaller, firm. 

 Leaflets narrowly linear; heads globose or short. 

 Flowers pink or purple. 



Leaflets 3-5; calyx silky -pubescent. 



Bracts glabrous; leaflets mucronulate. 

 Bracts silky-pubescent; leaflets obtuse. 

 Leaflets 13-31; calyx glabrous. 

 Foliage silky-pubescent; leaflets 9-17. 



I. Kuhnistera compacta (Sprang.) 

 Kuntze. Dense-flowered Prairie- 

 clover. (Fig. 2108.) 



Dalea compacta Spreng. Syst. Veg. 3: 327. 1826. 

 Petalostemon macrostachyus Torr. Ann. Lye. 2: 176. 



1828. 

 Peialostemon compactus Swezey, Nebraska Flow. 



PI. 6. 1891. 

 Kuhnistera compacta Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 192. 1891. 



Erect, dotted with sessile glands, branched, 

 i-2^ high. Leaflets 5-7, glabrous, short- 

 stalked, oblong-lanceolate or linear-oblong, acute 

 or obtusish, dotted beneath, 6 // -i2 // long, about 

 2" wide; peduncles terminal, elongated, not 

 bracted; spikes cylindric, 2 / -6 / long, about 6" 

 thick, the rachis pubescent; flowers white or 

 nearly so, about i" long; bracts awn-pointed, 

 longer than the densely villous-pubescent calyx; 

 wings and keel -petals oblong; standard cordate; 

 pod pubescent, enclosed by the calyx. 



In dry soil, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. 

 July-Aug. 



1. K. compacta. 



2. K. Candida. 



3. K. oligophylla. 



4. K. multiflora. 



5. K. purpurea. 



6. K. tenuifolia. 



7. K.foliosa. 

 K. villosa. 



.3. 



2. Kuhnistera Candida (Willd.) 



Kuntze. White Prairie-clover. 



(Fig. 2109.) 



Dalea Candida Willd. Sp. PI. 3: 1337. 1803. 

 Peialostemon candidus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 



49. 1803. 

 Kuhmstera Candida Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 192. 



1891. 



Glabrous, stems erect, assurgent, or rarely 

 prostrate, simple, or sparingly branched, i- 

 2 high. Leaves petioled; leaflets 5-9, ob- 

 long, or oblanceolate, 8 // -i2 // long, iX // -3 // 

 wide, obtusish or acute and often mu- 

 cronulate at the apex, narrowed at the base, 

 very short-stalked; peduncles terminal, 

 elongated, bracted; spikes cylindric, i'-^/ 

 long, 5 // -6 // thick; bracts awn-pointed, longer 

 than the calyx; corolla white, 2 // ~3 // long; 

 wings and keel-petals oval; standard cor- 

 date; calyx-teeth and pod slightly pubescent. 



Prairies ; Indiana to Minnesota and the North- 

 west Territory, south to Louisiana, Texas and 

 Colorado. July-Aug. 



