PULSE FAMILY 131 



VL BAPTISIA Vent. 



Perennial herbs ; stems erect, widely branched. Leaves 

 simple or palmate, of o leaflets. Flowers in racemes. Calyx 

 4-5-lobed, persistent, the upper lobe usually longer and 

 notched ; standard rounded, its sides reflexed, wings about 

 as long as the keel. Stamens 10, distinct. Pod stalked, long- 

 pointed by the remains of the style. Plants usually becom- 

 ing black in drying.* *: 



1. B. tinctoria R. Br. Wild Indigo. Stem smooth, slender, 2-4 ft. 

 high; branches slender. Leaves of 3 leaflets, on short petioles, the 

 upper nearly sessile ; stipules minute, quickly deciduous. Leaflets 

 obovate to ohlanceolate, obtuse at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, 

 entire. Racemes numerous, terminaL Flowers yellow, Hn. long. Pod 

 globose, ovoid, on a stalk about the length of the calyx, point long and 

 slender. Plant blackening in drying. Common on dry, sandy soil.* 



2. B. bracteata ^Nluhl. Low, hairy, and branching. Leaves nearly 

 sessile ; leaflets oblanceolate or obovate-spatulate ; stipules triangular- 

 ovate, large, persistent; bracts large and leaf -like. Racemes long. 

 Flowers large, yellowish-white. Pod ovoid, swollen. Prairies and 

 open woods W, and S. 



3. B. leucantha T. & G. Stout, smooth, and covered with a bloom, 

 3 ft. or more high, with spreading branches. Petioles short ; lanceo- 

 late stipules and bracts falling off early. Racemes erect. Flowers 

 large, white. Pods ellipsoidal, 2 in. long, borne on a stalk twice as 

 long as the calyx. Rich river bottoms and prairies. 



4. B. alba R. Br. White Wild Indigo. Stem smooth and with a 

 bloom, often purple, 2-3 ft. high; branches slender, si)reading. Leaves 

 petioled, with 3 leaflets; stipules minute, soon deciduous. Flowers 

 white, mostly in a single raceme which is 1-3 ft. long, with occasionally 

 lateral, few-flowered racemes. Pod linear-oblong, the point very slen- 

 der and soon deciduous. Plant unchanged in drying. In damp soil.* 



5. B. australis R.Br. Blue False Indigo. Stem smooth, stout, 

 2—4 ft. high. Leaves of 3 leaflets, short-petioled ; stipules lanceolate, 

 persistent, longer than the petioles; leaflets oblong, wedge-shaped or 

 narrowly obovate, entire. Flowers bright blue, 1 in. long, in terminal, 

 erect, loosely flowered racemes; stalk about the length of the calyx. 

 Pod oblong, with a slender, persistent point. Banks of rivers ; often culti- 

 vated for ornament.* 



VII. CLADRASTIS Raf. 



A moderate-sized tree, with smooth dark gray bark and 

 yellow wood. Leaves of 7-11 smooth oval or ovate leaflets. 



