LEGUMINOS^E. (PULSE FAMILY.) 73 



1. Rachis of the leaves tendril-bearing: pod sessile. Ours are perennials, with 



semi-sagittate stipules having lanceolate lobes, and purple or purplish flowers. 



* Leaflets 8 to 12 : peduncles rather many-flowered. 



1. L. venosus, Muhl. Stout, climbing, usually somewhat downy : leaf- 

 lets oblong-ovate, mostly obtuse : calyx densely pubescent to nearly glabrous : 

 pod smooth. Throughout the Eastern States and extending northwestward 

 to Washington Territory. 



* * Leaflets 4 to 8 : peduncles 2 to 6-flowered. 



2. L. paluster, L. Slender, glabrous or somewhat pubescent : stem 

 often winged: leaflets narrowly oblong to linear: flowers smaller (6 lines 

 long). Common everywhere throughout the northern portions of both 

 hemispheres. 



Var. myrtifolius, Gray. Stipules usually broader and larger; leaflets 

 ovate to oblong, shorter (an inch long or less). PL Fendl. 30. L. myrtifolius, 

 Muhl. L. venosus, var. 8, Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 274. L. polyphyllus, Watson, 

 Bot. King's Exp. 78. The L. pubescens, Nutt., of Fl. Colorado. With the 

 species. 



2. Rachis not tendril-bearing or rarely so: pod shortly stipitate. In ours the 

 peduncles are 2 to 6-flowered. 



3. L. polymorphus, Nutt. Usually low, finely pubescent or glabrous, 

 glaucous: leaflets 6 to 12, thick and strongly nerved, narrowly oblong, acute : 

 flowers very large, purple : pod 3 or 4 lines broad ; f uniculus remarkably nar- 

 row and hilum short. Colorado and New Mexico to Central Arizona. 



4. L. ornatus, Nutt. Resembling the last except the leaves are nar- 

 rower and shorter, the pod somewhat broader, and the funiculus broader. 

 Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 277. Mountains of Colorado and Utah. 



18. CASSIA, L. SENNA. 



Calyx-tube very short. Anthers erect, opening by two pores or chinks 

 at the apex. Pod usually curved, many-seeded, often with cross-partitions 

 between the seeds. Herbs, with flowers in terminal or axillary (in ours) 

 clusters. 



1. C. Chamsecrista, L. Leaflets small, somewhat sensitive to the touch, 

 10 to 15 pairs, linear-oblong, oblique at the base, a cup-shaped gland beneath 

 the lowest pair : flowers on slender pedicels, in small clusters above the axils, 

 2 or 3 of the showy petals often with a purple spot at the base : four of the 

 anthers yellow, the others purple. Throughout the Eastern States and 

 westward across the plains to Colorado. 



19. HOFFMANSEGGIA, Cav. 



Sepals united into a short obconic base. Petals obovate, on short claws, 

 spreading, one or more of them often glandular at base. Filaments thickened 

 or dilated toward the base. Pod oblong or linear, often falcate, compressed, 

 dry, 2-valved. Low perennial herbs or suffrutescent plants, often dotted with 

 black glands. 



1. H. Jamesii, Torr. & Gray. Canescently-pubescent, much branched 

 from a shrubby base: pinnae 5, abruptly 10 to 16-foliolate : leaflets oval, nearly 



