OXYTROPIS.] LEGUMINOS^E. 105 



Habit, &c., ofAstraga'lus; distinguished by the mucronate keel, and septum 

 of the pod never produced from the dorsal suture. 



1. O. iiralexi'siSj DC. ; silky, leaflets ovate-lanceolate, peduncles longer 

 than the leaves, flowers pale purple. 0. Halleri, Bunge. 



Dry and rocky pastures, from Wigton and Fife to Caithness ; ascends to 2,OCO 

 ft. ; fl. June-July. Rootstock stout, woody ; branches very short. Leaves 

 2-4 in. ; leaflets J- in., many, membranous, close-set ; stipules lanceolate. 

 Heads 6-10-fld. ; peduncle stout, erect; bracts leafy, shorter than the calyx. 

 Flowers f in., pale ; keel tipped with dark purple. Calyx-tube oblong, 

 hairy and slightly glandular, cylindric ; teeth short, subulate. Pod about 

 1 in., sessile, erect, ovoid, tumid, bursting the calyx, hairy, many-seeded, 

 beak curved. DISTRIB. Arctic and sub- Alpine Europe, N. Asia, N. America. 

 I cannot distinguish the Uralian plant from the Scotch, and that found 

 all round the N. temp, and Arctic zones, except by its rather larger size. 

 Boissier has but the one name for the Russian and Alpine plants. 



2. O. campes'tris, DC. ; softly hairy, leaflets linear-oblong or oblong- 

 lanceolate, flowering peduncles shorter than the leaves, flowers pale yellow. 

 Alpine rocks, Clova Mts. ; alt. 2,000 ft. ; fl. June-July. Habit of O. uralen'sis, 



but larger ; leaves 4-6 in. ; leaflets usually longer, sometimes 1 in., narrower, 

 more obtuse ; peduncles lengthening after flowering to 8 in. Flowers 5 in., 

 yellow tinged with purple. Pod |- in., sessile, ovoid-lanceolate, hairy, 

 half 2-celled, beak curved. DISTRIB. Arctic and Alpine Europe, Siberia, 

 N. America. 



13. ORNITH'OPUS, L. BIRD'S-FOOT. 



Slender, hairy herbs. Leaves pinnate with a terminal leaflet ; leaflets 

 small ; stipules membranous. Flowers minute, in long peduncled heads 

 or umbels, pink white or yellow. Calyx-lobes equal or 2 upper connate. 

 Keel obtuse, sometimes very short. Alternate filaments dilated upwards, 

 the upper free ; anthers uniform. Style inflexed, stigma capitate ; ovules 

 many. Pod curved, slender, indehiscent, breaking up into many short 

 1 -seeded joints. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia. ETYM. opvis 

 and TTOUS, from the fruits resembling birds' claws. 



1. O. perpusil'lus, L. ; bracts pinnate, flowers white, pod much con- 

 stricted between the seeds. 



Sandy and gravelly places from Moray and Dumbarton southd.; E. Ireland, 

 very rare; Channel Islands; fl. May-July. Annual, grey-green, hairy 

 above. Stems 6-18 in., many, prostrate, filiform, leafy, sparingly branched. 

 Leaves 1-2 in., upper sessile ; leaflets |-| in., 6-14 pair, close-set, oblong or 

 linear-oblong, the lowest pair recurved when at the base of the petiole ; 

 stipules minute. Peduncles axillary, slender, strict, longer or shorter than 

 the leaves. Heads 3-6-fld. Flowers % in., veined with red; pedicels very 

 short. Calyx-tube subcampanulate ; teeth short. Pod |-1 in., 7-9-jointed, 

 beaked, glabrous or pubescent, reticulated. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa. 



2. O. ebractea'tus, Brot. ; bracts 0, flowers yellow, pod slightly 

 constricted between the seeds. Arthrolo'bium ebracteatum, DC. 



