VOL. II.] 



PEA FAMILY. 



309 



5. Spiesia Lambert! (Pursh) Kuntze. Stemless Loco-weed or Crazy-weed. 

 Colorado Loco vetch. (Fig. 2160.) 



Oxytropis Lamberti Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 740. 1814. 

 Spiesia Lamberti Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 207. 1891. 



Silky-pubescent with appressed or slightly spreading 

 hairs, acaulescent or nearly so, tufted. Stipules imbricated, 

 membranous, pubescent, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 

 4 // ~7 // long; leaves 4 / -g / long; leaflets 9-19, linear, oblong 

 or sometimes lanceolate, acute or obtusish at the apex, 

 mainly rounded at the base, 8 // -i2 // long, i> // -3 // wide; 

 peduncles longer than the leaves, 6 / -i2 / long; flowers pur- 

 ple, yellowish, or purplish, 8 // -i5 // long, in dense heads 

 or spikes; pod incompletely 2-celled, coriaceous, sessile, 

 erect, ovoid-cylindric, densely pubescent, long-acuminate, 

 6 // -i2 // long, exceeding the calyx. 



Prairies, Minnesota to the Northwest Territory and British 

 Columbia, south to Texas and New Mexico. April-Aug. 



Spiesia Lamberti sericea ( Nutt. ) Rydb. Bot. Surv. Neb. 3: 32. 1894. 

 Oxytropis sericea Nutt. ; T. & G. Fl. N. A. i: 339. 1838. 



More silky; leaflets wider, lanceolate or oblong; flowers 

 often yellow. Range nearly of the type. 





6. Spiesia splendens (Dougl.) Kuntze. 

 Showy Oxy trope. (Fig. 2161.) 



Oxytropis splendens Dougl.; Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 147. 1833. 

 Spiesia splendens Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 207. 1891. 



Densely silvery and silky-villous, acaulescent, tufted. 

 Stipules imbricated, membranous, villous-pubescent, lan- 

 ceolate, acute, 4 // -6 // long; leaves 4'~9> / long, erect; 

 leaflets very numerous, in verticils of 3-6, oblong or ob- 

 long-lanceolate, acute or acutish at the apex, rounded at 

 the base, 6 // -io // long, 2 // -4 // wide; peduncles exceeding 

 the leaves, sometimes 12' long; flowers deep purple, about 

 6" long, in dense spikes; pods ovoid, erect, 2-celled or 

 nearly so, long-acuminate with a spreading or oblique tip, 

 villous-pubescent, little exceeding the calyx, 6"-9" long. 



Prairies, Minnesota and Manitoba to the Northwest Terri- 

 tory, south to Colorado and New Mexico. June-Aug. 



7. Spiesia Belli Britton. (Fig. 2162.) 



Spiesia Belli Britton; J. M. Macoun, Can. Rec. Sci. 

 1894: 148. 1894. 



Acaulescent, tufted, loosely villous with white 

 hairs. Stipules membranous, ovate or oblong, 

 acute or acuminate, imbricated, villous orglabrate, 

 5 //_ 7 // i ong; leaves 3 / -6 / long; leaflets oblong or 

 oblong-lanceolate, subacute at the apex, rounded 

 at the base, $"-4" long, i"-2" wide, in verticils 

 of 3 or 4; peduncles about equalling the leaves; in- 

 florescence capitate; pod oblong, erect-spreading, 

 densely pubescent with black hairs or some longer 

 whitish ones intermixed, about 9" long and 3" 

 thick, 2-3 times as long as the black-pubescent ca- 

 lyx, very nearly or quite 2-celled by the intrusion of 

 the ventral suture, the tip erect; corolla not seen. 



Hudson Bay. Summer. 



