174 



long-laHceolate to elliptical, apiculate, flat, long-petiolulate, nearly 

 contiguous, the largest about 2 cm. long. Stems stout, decumbent, 

 2-3 feet long, often 5 mm. thick, flexuous, with interuodes rarely 5 cm. 

 long. S>tipules subulate, la.x, thin, hardly 1 cm. long, with threadlike 

 tips. Pubescence softly whitc-villous all over, the stems white, the 

 leaves greener. A very robust plant of the foothills near Santa Mon- 

 ica California, Braunton. TrojMcal life zone. This is a most unexpec- 

 ted addition to the group. 



131 Astragalus Lyallii Gray Proc. Am. Acad. 6 195 (1864). Pha- 

 ca Piper. Pods very variable, straight, pungently acute, flat at lip. 

 narrowly sulcatc dorsally, about 3 mm. high and 1-2 mm. wide, clo-^e- 

 ly reflexcd, splitting the calyx, hoary or smooth, finely ci o ^s-nerved, 

 about 5 mm. long, z-celled to tip, triangular-ovate lo oblong-lancto- 

 late \rarely ovab, with cross-section narrowly triangulai-co: date to 

 broadly cordate-ovate, with ventral suture raised and thick, poa bui 

 little convex on the dorsal side. Flowers white or tinged with purple, 

 about 6-7 mm. long, nearly sessile. .Banner ovate, often p-urple-sliiate 

 4-5 mm. long, abruptly arched at end of tube to nearly er^ct, witli 

 sides much reflexed so that outline is nearly linear. Wings oblong- 

 lanceolate, but little arched, narrower than keel and from 2 mm. longer 

 to only a little longer than keel, 3 mm. shorter than banner. Keel wiih 

 nearly .straight base, about 3 mm. long and high, very abruptly ronn- 

 ,ded at the end to more than erect, the tip being deltoid, oblicjucly trun- 

 cate, colored, not "surpassing calyx teeth. Calyx .tube turbinate to cam-' 

 panulate, about 2 mm. long, narrowed below, blackish with shaggy hairs 

 about as'loiig as t.ube, the filiform teeth very la.x and often twice the 

 tube. Pedicels slender, about 1 mm. long in fruit. Bracts subulate, 

 lax, about 2-4 mm. long. Peduncles slender, rarely 3 cm. long. Flo- 

 ral rachis erect, tapering, often 1 dm. long. Central leaves nbout 6 

 cm. long, mostly sessile, spreading, rather broad. Leaflets 6-8 pairs, 

 not contiguous, 1-1.5 cm. long, narrowly elliptical to almost linear, 

 acute, softly appressed-hoary-silky with very fine and long hairs. 

 Stems nearly erect, a foot or two high, flexuous, with peduncles in 

 most of the a;<i's, more hairy than the leaves, with internodes 3-5 cm. 

 long, nearly simple. Stipules inconspicuous, small with threadlike tip. 

 Whole plant silvery-silky. Some forms shade toward A.. Spaldingii in 

 shape of pods and pubescence but the pods are conspicuously exseited 

 from the calyx, always reflexed. Calyx much smaller and lobes lax 

 and relatively longer than in the other species. .Stems from wo.ody 

 roots. From Glenn's h'erry Idaho to the lower Columbia ikisin, grow- 

 ing on prairies and in sandy places. Lower part of the Middle and 

 upper part of the Lower Temperate life zones. 



Astragalus Lyallii var. caricinuB X. Var. Leaflets linear lanceo- 

 late and acuminate, very sharp-pointed, 1-2 cm, long. Calyx lobes al- 

 most capillary and much longer than the tube. lax and long-villous. 

 Pods mostly reflexed, nearly 1 cm. long, half-oval-oyate to oblong- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, thin, often nearly smooth and cross-veine<l, sul- 

 cate to the middle (less so below) and with septum intruded to the 

 ventral suture or more, very much laterally flattened, and with cross- 

 section cuneate with a cordate base, with both sutures ar-che.d but the 

 dorsal the more. Plants about a foot and a half high and densely tuf- 

 ted from a woody root. This grows on sand dunes at Glenn's Ferry 

 Idaho on hillsides. There are all sorts of intcrgrades. Lower Tem- 

 perate life zone. The pods are shaped like a buckwheat or Garex grain 

 (but not as wide as the former) and hence the name. 



