221 



from the base to the middle, much obcomieressed till the cross-sec- 

 tion is nearly that of the figure oo, flattened dorsally to broadly sul- 

 catc in the middle, with sutures not intruded, abruptly rounded (rarely 

 acuminate) at base and with a boss-like pseudo-stii)e at the junction 

 with calyx, coriaceous when dry and finely corrugated, when fresh 

 the wall is 1 mm. thick with the inner part woody only, pubescence of 

 l)ods from rather sparse and rarely 1 mm. long but spreading to dense 

 and sliaggy and woolly and 4 mm. long, tip of pod conspicuously flat- 

 toned and prow-lilce and deltoid to triangular-acuminate and longer 

 than wide, nm-tl}" ;.;rcen-cdged, conspicuously'- different from those of 

 A. rt;ihcn-i-. iii r. i- -picate. Flowers brilliant-pink-purple, about i 

 cm. ion--, in 1om-c iic.ids and becoming short-.-^picate in fruit. Banner 

 ovai o\aU', a liltle u\er 1 cm. long. Nvith sidc« refle.xed about 3 mm. 

 wide below llie middle, aliruptly arched just lieyond the caly.x tips to 

 4.^ degree-^ and then straight to the tip, inclined to appear fiddle-like 

 by the -ilc- In-ing reflexed at tip, wjth groove deep and large and 2 

 mm. wide and 1 mm. deep at keel-tip and then vanishing above, white- 

 spot tan shaped and filling the groove and coming within 2 mm. of lip 

 and purple-veined. Wings linear, entire, concave to keel and with tip 

 horizontal and with the concave side up, straight, deep-purple, about 

 3 ;n;n. longer than keel and 4 mm. shorter than banner. Keel aliout 5 

 mm. long and 3 mm. high, arcuate sharply from near the base to fully 

 erect at the rounded tip. Caly.K tube about 1 cm. long. 4-5 mm. wide, 

 not appearing inflated, cleft a little deeper above and with base a little 

 n irrowed and inserted on the lower corner at the fleshj' end. reddish 

 and thin, sparsely short-woolly, teeth 3-6 mm. long, often half as long 

 a* the calyx and from subulate from a deltoid base to filiform-tip])ed. 

 i'.racts ei|u,illy variable and from about as long as the teeth to 1 cm. 

 1 ) ig. Peduncles stout and about 5-7 cm. long. Leaves narrow, 7-10 

 cm. long, the petioles rarely over twice as long as the lowest leaflet. 

 I-ciHets about 10 pairs, mostly contiguous, broadlj' to narrowly ellip- 

 tic,!, aeuti^h at both ends, rarely rounded at tip and somewhat obo- 

 \ ate. about 1 cm. long when fully developed, softly silky-woolly with 

 mostly rather long hairs. .Stipules elongated, triangular-subulate. 

 -Ste n> zigzag, the internodes in the best developed forms being 1-3 

 cm long and making the stems 1-2 ft. long, mostly prostrate. Stipules 

 not iml>ricated. This species prefers sandy places on southern slopes 

 in the .Middle and Lower Temperate life zones in the Columbia Basin. 

 It runs up the .Missoula at least to Missoula Mont, and seems to pass 

 o\ er the Continental Divide to Helena though most of the higher alti- 

 tude forms are the variety. It seems also to reach the Great Basin on 

 the eastern side of the Sierras in northern Nevada. The type does not 

 see n to reach above the great bend of the Snake river at Huntington 

 though puzzling intergrades do. It blooms in early summer. 



Astragalus inflexusvar. glareosus (Douglas) Tones Cont. 10 62 

 (19')2). -\ i;lareo.-us Douglas in Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 1.S2 (1834). 

 This is a form with pods inclined to be hooked at tip, w itli slencler pe- 

 duncle^ often 1 dm. long but sometimes very short, with stems so 

 short that the stipules overlap ojr are closely' imbricated, the many 

 leaves with leaflets nearly linear to narrowdy elliptical and \ cry acute 

 at both ends and rather distant and mostly -sparsely long silkv-woo'Uy 

 but the i)l,ints still with a greenish look. Throughout the Columbia 

 drainage hut mo-;t common along the Snake river to the Yellowstone 

 Park, Middle Temperate life zone mostly. Tliis l^looms in .^i)ril and 

 May and gi'ows in the sagebrush on well drained slopc'^ and in open 

 valleye but not in alkaline ground. The form described by Xelson as 

 A. nudisiliiiuu-^ had old pi^ds where decay had lo isened the hair.s on the 

 pods which ha<l separated from the skin leaving the pods smooth. It 

 often occurs late in the season in .\. Purse'' Utahensis and desperatus 

 This undoubtedly hybridizes with A. Pnrshii for'uin-; .Astragalus 

 Purshii-x-glareosus, which has more haiiy po.ls and ligliter colored 

 flowers. 



