134 Alpin.. 



ble, the lower ones short and often reniform. Stems 1-2 ft. high, 

 slender, tufted, ascending to decumbent, open and airy plants with 

 internodes 4-10 cm. long. Pubescence of whole plant almost none 

 except the nigrescent calyx and pods. Young forms of this closely 

 resemble A. andinus, but the flowers of that species are capitate, 

 the stipules broader and greener, the habit more decumbent and 

 the pods as they ripen differ greatly. Alpine and subalpine from 

 the mountains of New England to Labrador. Intergrades toward the 

 var. occidentalis grow in Alberta and are A. Macounii Rydberg. This 

 often passes for A. andinus in New England. 



Astragalus Labradoricus var. Robbinsii (Oakes in Gray's Man. 

 Ed. 2 98 (1856), as species). Pods much laterally flattened, about 

 1-1.5 cm. long and half as high, half-oblong-oval, with the dorsal suture 

 straight and the ventral much arched, rather abruptly narrowed at 

 both ends, and shortly acute, opening first at tij), but little inflated 

 though the cavity is much wider than the seeds, seiitum a little in- 

 truded. Flowers capitate to short racemose, 7-10 mm. long, ascend- 

 ing, white. Calyx cleft deeper above and with broad sinus; teeth one- 

 half to one mm. long. Bracts small, lanceolate, those on the lower 

 flowers larger. Leaflets 7-12 mm. long, oval to oblong, 3-5 pairs, long- 

 petiolulate. Stipules green, rather large. Stems variably erect. 

 Pubescence appressed and nigrescent, not dense. Alpine in the moun- 

 tains of New England. 



Astragalus Labradoricus var. occidentalis (Watson Bot. King 70 

 (1871) as Robbisii var.) A. occidentalis (Watson) Jones. Atelophrag- 

 ma Rydberg. Body of pod 10-15 mm. long, rarely 2.5 cm. long, shortl/ 

 acute at both ends, half-oval to half-elliptical, about 7 mm. high in the 

 short pods and 3 mm. wide and high in the long pods, mostly half- 

 oval ovate nearly as wide as high, cross section rather broadly 

 ovate, pod inflated, on a twisted pedicel so that the dorsal suture is 

 mostly uppermost, often a little sulcate dorsally, in long racemes nigres- 

 cent, with dorsal suture intruded often 1 mm. high. Stipe normally 

 about half as long as calyx but very variable from very short to a 

 little longer than calyx, when very short it approaches A. elegans. 

 Flowers rather many, ascending to horizontal, spicate, dirty-white but 

 often tinged with purple, purplish below, about 7 mm. long, rather 

 narrow. Banner oblong-oval abruptly arched to 60 to 90 degrees 1 

 mm. beyond calyx tips, 7 mm. long, 1-2 mm. longer than wings, with 

 sides reflexed about 1 mm. wide; groove very broadly V-shaped below 

 and disappearing above. Wings arched to 30 degrees, narrower than 

 keel and about 1 mm. longer, obovate, rounded, notched below the 

 til), with a little groove along the middle, concave to keel and ob- 

 lique, riaht hand one pressed close to keel. Keel with tip nearly erect 

 and rour.ded, 2 mm. high, about 3 mm. longer than calyx, lead- 

 purple. Calyx tube about 2 mm. long, almost turbinate, truncate, very 

 oblique above, cleft deeper above with broad sinus, teeth deltoid at 

 base, barely half as long as tube, with pedicel about equally inserted. 

 Bracts green, lanceolate to subulate, not over 2 mm. long. Peduncles 

 as often axillary as terminal with the rachis often a foot long. Leaves 

 not condensed, not over 1 dm. long. Leaflets oval to oblong, rarely 

 12 mm. long (northern forms often have leaflets 3 cm. long), smooth 

 or nearly so, 6-7 pairs, green, often paler below. Stipules large, 

 rarely a little connate at very base. Stems widely spreading over 

 other plants or prostrate, 1-2 ft. long. Crowns rather many from a 

 woody and erect root, not from underground and slender rootstocks 

 as in andinus. This differs from the var. Robbinsii in the less lunate 

 pods, about equally acute at both ends but very shortly stipitate, and 

 in the more numerous leaflets. But it is exceedingly variable in all 

 characters. It often grows with A. andinus and may hybridize with 

 it. Alpine and subalpine. East Humboldt Mts. Nevada to the Blue 



