Z6o 



than half tlie tube, I'.ract? thin as in the other species, 5-7 mm. long, 

 ['ediinoles 1-J dm. lung. Leaves narrow and somewhat tapering, gen- 

 erally as li.Mig as peduncle or more, petioles rather shorter than the ra- 

 cliis. I.eatlets oiien ^0 pairs, about oval-ovate, mostly acutish, hardly 

 conLiguou>, seldom 1 cm. long, with densely and mostly yellow-felted 

 pubescence, nearly -ensile. Stems from hardly any to short and spread- 

 ing on the grt)und. l-iare in southern Arizona and New Mexico, and 

 laiher comiuun from Chihuahua and Durango Mexico and southward, 

 Uio-t.y fiopical on dry benches and slopes, blooming in April and 

 May. I'his is little more than a well-marked variety of A. Higelovii. 



191 Astragalus mollissimus Torr. Ann. Lye. i\. Y. 2 178(1828). 

 Pods linear-ol)long, about 2 cm. long, 5 mm. wide and 3 mm. high, 

 tiuni a little arcuate to curved into a half circle, rugulo.se, inclined to 

 1 e narrowed at the boss-like base, triangular-acute, with the flat beak 

 not or rarely obiicjue (as in A. llumboidtin. about 2-celled nearly to 

 the tip, inclined to be velvety-pubescent when young but smooth with 

 age, not inflated. Flowers purple, about 2 cm. long, spicate. Banner 

 al)out oval, 1 cm. long, arched rather abruptly at end ot calyx tube to 

 3U-45 degrees and then straight, with sides reflexed about 2 mm. wide 

 in the middle, white spot filling the blade to within 2 mm. of the sides 

 and purple around the upper end. Wings broadly linear, about 2 mm. 

 wide, white at tip, a little arcuate, about 2 mm. longer than keel and 

 often nearly as long as the banner. Keel with straight base, about 5 

 mm. long and then abruptly erect and 3 mm. high, very obtuse and 

 rounded, purple-tinged or striped. Calyx tube 5-7 mm. long, 3-4 mm. 

 wide, about as in A. Bigeloxii, a little wider below and truncate and 

 inserted, on the lower and fleshy corner, loosely long-shaggy, with the 

 subulate teeth about hall as iong as tube. Bracts reaching the middle 

 of calyx. Pedicels very shnrt. Peduncles 1-3 dm. long, subscapose, 

 stout, mostly about as long as the leaves. Leaves not conspicuously 

 acuminate, with petioles not over half the whole. Leaflets lU-15 pairs 

 from nearly ovate and acute to broadly elliptical and obtsue, 1-2 cm. 

 long, variably silky-hairy with long hairs which are a little felted and 

 generally yellowish. Stems straggling upward, with few nodes, rare- 

 ly 1 dm long, with short internodes. Crowns inclined to be woody. 

 This dill'er- from A I I un.biildtii in the shaggy calyx and smooth pod.s 

 and fro.u A. l'.i<elc)\ii m ilu; smooth pods not inflated and in the short 

 and narrower bract> and mo.e .'.cute leaflets which also are normally 

 larger. Northern Cdior.idu at Windsor and eastward to Nebraska and 

 southward to Texas and w e>tward to Flagstaff .Arizona, not in the 

 Navajo Basin, common on the Plains in gravel. Lower Temperate 

 life zone. This is the "Loco" a stock poison, affecting the motor 

 nerves and the vision. Being the first green thing out in the spring 

 stock get to eating it and soon are poisoned so that they stagger and 

 become emaciated and finally crazy, when taken away from it they 

 appear to reco\'er but ne\ er are reliable again. .A., lentiginosus and 

 Pattersoni have the same effect. It is probable that most of the ^pi- 

 cies are poisonous but do not come out till there is plenty of forage. 

 Stock will not eat it if there is anything else to eat. 



192 Astragalus giganteus Watson Proc. Am. .Acad. 17 370 (1882). 

 Pods oval-ovate, conspicuously inflated, from a little oblicpie toilecifl- 

 edly obcompressed, about 1 cm. long, 7 mm. wide and 3-5 mm. high, 

 strongly cross-wrinkled, slightly sulcatc dorsally and with sutures 

 very convex, truncate ami strongly attached to calyx, strongly mucro- 

 nate at tip with the flattish and deltoid beak several times wider than 

 long, ventral suture deeply depressed forming a groove from base to 

 two thirds of the way up then strongly humped and recurved to form 

 the rather declined but nearly symmetrical beak, the pods suggest very 

 ? trongly those of .A. Canadensis var. Carolinianus. Flowers yellow- 

 ish, inclined to be reflexed, 1.5-3 cm. long, narrow. Banner about 

 ovate, with sides reflexed a little below, arcuate 30-45 degrees at end 



