PULSE FAMILY. 125 



C. racemosus, Hort. Prom Teneriffe ; has flowers more spicate, and 

 oblong-spatulate leaflets 3-4 times larger than the last. 



10. LABURNUM. (Ancient Latin name.) 



L vulgare, Gris. LABURNUM, GOLDEN CHAIN, or BEAN TREE. A low 



tree with smooth green bark ; leaves slender-petioled ; leaflets 3, oblong 

 (2'-3' long), pubescent beneath ; flowers showy, golden-yellow, hanging 

 in long racemes, in late spring ; pods hairy, with one thicker edge, but 

 not winged. Eu. Several cult, forms. 



11. LUPINUS, LUPINE. (Latin : lupus, a wolf, because Lupines 

 were thought to devour the fertility of the soil.) 



-* Perennials. 



L. per^nnis, Linn. WILD L. Somewhat hairy ; stem erect, 1-1^ 

 high ; leaflets 7-11, spatulate oblong or oblanceolate, green ; raceme long ; 

 flowers of showy purplish blue (rarely pale), in late spring. N. Eng. to 

 Minn, and S. 



L. polyphyllus, Lindl. MANY-LEAVED L. 3-4 high, rather hairy ; 

 leaflets 13-15, lanceolate or oblanceolate ; raceme very long, dense ; 

 flowers blue, sometimes purple, variegated, or even white, in June. Ore. 

 and Cal. ; the principal hardy perennial species of the gardens. 



* * Annuals, or cult, as annuals. 

 -- Ovules only 2 ; leaflets usually 9. 



L. microcdrpus, Sims. l-2 high, sparsely hairy ; flowers yellow to 

 (rarely) white or pink, forming distinct and separate whorls in the long 

 raceme. Cal. 



t- -t- Ovules 4-8 ; leaflets usually fewer (5-9). 



+H. Flowers normally blue; stems dwarf (1 or less). 



L afftnis, Agardh. Short-hairy ; leaflets 5-7, rather smooth above, 

 broadly wedge-obovate, obtuse, or emarginate ; bracts short ; flowers 

 whorled in the raceme, deep blue. Cal. 



L. nanus, Dougl. DWARF L. Long-hairy ; leaflets linear to oblance- 

 olate, usually acute, pubescent both sides ; bracts exceeding calyx ; 

 flowers bluish-purple. Cal. 



w. ++ Flowers blue, white, or rose-color; stems tall (2 or more). 



L mutdbifis, Sweet. Cult, from S. Am. ; tall, very smooth through- 

 out; leaflets blunt, about 9, narrow-oblong; flowers very large, sweet- 

 scented, violet-purple (or a white variety ) r with yellow and a little red on 

 the standard. 



L. hirsutus, Linn. Cult, in old gardens, from Eu. Clothed with soft 

 white hairs ; leaflets spatulate -oblong ; flowers in loose whorls in the 

 raceme, blue, with rose-color and white varieties ; pods very hairy. 



+* )-) -w- Flowers yellow. 



L. luteus, Linn. YELLOW L., of the gardens, from Eu., silky-hairy, 

 rather low ; flowers in whorls, crowded in a dense spike. 



12. MELILOTUS, MELILOT, SWEET CLOVER. (Greek: honey, 

 Lotus.) Foliage sweet-scented, especially in drying. Natives of the 

 Old World, running wild in waste or cultivated ground ; flowers all 

 summer. (J) (g) 



