LEGUMINOS^E. (PULSE FAMILY.) 97 



1. T. Virgiiiiaiia, Pers. (GOAT'S KUE. CATGUT.) Silky -vittmis with 

 whitish hairs when young; stem erect and simple (l-2 higfh), leafy to the top; 

 leaflets 17-29, linear-oblong; flowers large and numerous, clustered in a termi- 

 nal oblong dense raceme or panicle, yellowish-white marked with purple. Dry 

 sandy soil. June, July. Roots long and slender, very tough. Flower almost 

 as large as a pea-blossom. 



2. T. Spicata, Torr. & Gray. Villous with rusty hairs; stems branched 

 below, straggling or ascending (2 long), few-ltaved ; leaflets 9-15, obovate or 

 oblong-wedge-shaped, often notched at the end ; Jlowers few, in a loose inter- 

 rupted spike raised on a very long peduncle, reddish. Dry soil, E. Virginia and 

 south ward. July. 



3. T. Eiispidula, Pursh. Hairy with some long and rusty or only 

 minute and appressed pubescence; stems slender (9' 24' long), divergently 

 branched, straggling; leaflets 5-15, oblong, varying to obovate-wedge-shaped 

 and oblanceolate ; peduncles longer than the leaves, 2-4 flowered; flowers reddish- 

 purple. Dry sandy soil, Virginia and southward. 



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14. ASTRAGALUS, L. MILK- VETCH. 



Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla usually long and narrow : standard small, equal- 

 ling or exceeding the wings and blunt keel, its sides reflcxed or spreading. 

 Stamens diadelphous. Pod several - many-seeded, various, mostly turgid, one 

 or both sutures usually projecting into the cell, either slightly or to such a de- 

 gree as to divide the cavity lengthwise into two. Seed-stalks slender. Chiefly 

 herbs, with odd-pinnate leaves and spiked or racemed flowers. (The ancient 

 Greek name of a leguminous plant, as also of the ankle-bone ; but the connec- 

 tion between the two is past all guess.) 



^ 1. Pod very thick and juicy when fresh, globular, resembling a plum, ^.-celled, inde- 

 hiscent, or tardily separable through the partition into 2 closed portions. 



1. A. caryocferpus, Ker. (GROUND PLUM.) Pale and minutely 

 appressed-pubeseent ; stems low, decumbent ; leaflets numerous, narrowly ob- 

 long ; flowers in a short spike-like raceme ; corolla violet-purple ; fruit glabrous, 

 ovate-globular, more or less pointed, about f ' in diameter, ty Dry soil, on the 

 Mississippi River, at the junction of the St. Peter's, and westward and south- 

 ward. May. 



2. A. Mexicaiius, A. DC. Smoother, or pubescent with looser hairs, 

 larger ; stems usually ascending ; leaflets roundish, obovate, or oblong ; flowers 

 larger (10"- 12" long) ; calyx softly hairy; corolla cream-color, bluish only at the 

 tip ; fruit globular, very obtuse and pointless, 1' or more in diameter: otherwise 

 like the last : the unripe fruits of both are edible, and are eaten, raw or cooked, 

 by travellers. (A. trichcalyx, Nutt.) Prairies and open plains, from Illinois 

 opposite St. Louis westward and southward. 



^ 2. Pod dry and dehiscent, partly or completely 2-cetted by the turning inward of the 

 > dorsal suture. 



3. A. CanadensiS, L. Tall and erect (1 -4 high), somewhat pubes- 

 cent; leaflets 21-27, oblong; flowers greenish cream-color, very numerous, in 



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